Israeli forces fired ten missiles into Gaza Saturday night. The attack targeted agricultural lands east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. According to Israeli sources, the strikes were targeting “weapons manufacturing facilities” as well as tunnels allegedly used by Hamas and other militant resistance groups.
Last week an explosive device injured four IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers near the border in Southern Gaza and two small rockets were fired from Gaza, landing in the Negev Desert and causing no casualties. While no group has claimed responsibility for either incident, Israeli forces have unequivocally blamed Hamas.
This is the second violent response from Israel in recent weeks. Israeli tanks killed two teenagers east of Rafah last week, Salem Mohammed Soliman Sabbah, 17, and ‘Abdullah Ayman Salim Irmeilat, 15. 13 Palestinians have been killed so far in 2018, including seven children.
Israeli airstrikes routinely target agricultural infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, including poisoning Palestinian farmland with herbicides. Gaza has been blockaded by Israel for 11 years and shipments of aid are routinely denied. Gazans face food insecurity, extreme unemployment, and restricted movement, as well as repeated infrastructure destruction at the hands of Israel from which the blockade makes rebuilding and recovery near impossible.
Described by some as an open air prison, the UN has stated that Gaza will become “unlivable” by 2020 if the Israeli imposed conditions do not change. Israel blames these conditions on Hamas.
To know more, please read:
https://www.albawaba.com/news/russian-airstrikes-kill-least-7-civilians-idlib-1089136
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/2/19/israeli-warplanes-strike-gaza-after-new-rocket-attack
http://english.pnn.ps/2018/02/19/iof-fire-10-missiles-into-gaza-agricultural-land/
https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/07/561302-living-conditions-gaza-more-and-more-wretched-over-past-decade-un-finds
https://israelpalestinetimeline.org/charts/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43102901
https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/israeli-planes-again-spray-herbicides-near-gaza-farmland
