Four Palestinians injured by Israeli airstrike in Gaza

Palestine

Published: 2017-08-09 13:49

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 19:42


Israel holds Hamas responsible for all fire coming out of the Gaza strip. (Wikimedia Commons)
Israel holds Hamas responsible for all fire coming out of the Gaza strip. (Wikimedia Commons)

Four Palestinians were injured, one seriously, by Israel carried out airstrikes on Hamas targets in the besieged Gaza Strip Tuesday night.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Palestinian news agency Ma’an that the Israeli air force targeted “two Hamas posts” in the northern Gaza Strip, after an unidentified projectile -- allegedly fired from Gaza -- landed in an open area in southern Israel on Tuesday evening, causing no injuries.

However, Hamas spokesmen Hazem Qasem rejected Israel's claims.

"The airstrikes targeted Hamas positions in the centre of the Gaza Strip," Qasem told Al Jazeera.
"The occupation claims that a group from Gaza launched rockets at them, but there is no side in Gaza that has claimed responsibility.

"We are maintaining the period of calm and did not launch any rockets. It is not beneficial for the occupation to violate this period of calm."

Ayman al-Sahbani, the head of the Emergency and Ambulance department at the al-Shifa Medical Center in Gaza City, told Ma’an that four Palestinians suffered from light to critical injuries during the airstrikes.

One of the injured was identified as a 26-year-old man who was hit by shrapnel in the head and was reported to be in moderate condition.

Israel holds Hamas, Gaza’s de facto leading party, responsible for all fire coming out of the Gaza strip.

However, Hamas has not claimed responsibility for any rocket attacks since a ceasefire was declared after Israel’s devastating Gaza war in 2014, and the movement has reportedly clamped down on armed activity by smaller political groups that do launch rockets from the territory.

Shells have been fired from the blockaded coastal territory into Israel several times since the beginning of the year, most recently in July, causing no casualties. Israel has launched a number of airstrikes in retaliation, injuring at least seven Palestinians and damaging electricity infrastructure.