Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday killed two Hamas militants as unrest simmered across the Palestinian territories over US President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
A total of four people have been killed and dozens wounded since Trump announced his deeply controversial decision, which drew criticism from every other member of the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting on Friday.
There were fresh clashes yesterday as Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank hurled stones at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds.
Photo: AFP
In Gaza, mourners vented their anger at the funeral of one of two people killed on Friday by Israeli troops during clashes at the border fence.
There have been fears of a much larger escalation of violence after Hamas leader Ismail Haniya called for a new Palestinian intifada.
Dozens of protesters were wounded by rubber bullets or live fire in clashes in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem that followed Friday prayers.
Tens of thousands also protested in Muslim and Arab countries, including Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia.
Yesterday’s predawn airstrike on a base of Hamas’ military wing in Nusseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, was one of several, the Israeli military said.
It followed three rocket attacks on Friday night from Gaza into southern Israel.
“Today ... in response to the rockets fired at southern Israeli communities throughout yesterday, Israel air force aircraft targeted four facilities belonging to the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli army said.
It said the targets were “two weapons manufacturing sites, a weapons warehouse and a military compound, in each target, several components were hit,” it added.
The Hamas health ministry in Gaza said the two dead men were members of its armed wing, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.
On Friday night, a rocket hit the southern Israeli city of Sderot, although Israeli public radio said it did not explode and did not cause any casualties.
The Israeli military said that its Iron Dome air defense system intercepted an earlier rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave.
It said it later detected a second missile launch, but had not found evidence that it had reached Israeli territory.
The military retaliated on Friday night with airstrikes on what it said were two targets and the Gaza health ministry said 14 people were wounded, among them women and children.
A previously unknown Salafist group calling itself the Salahedin Brigades claimed responsibility for one of the attacks.
However, the Israeli army said it held Hamas responsible for all “hostile activity” originating from the territory under its control.
Trump’s decision drew lavish praise from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but has sparked a worldwide diplomatic backlash.
Five European countries on the UN Security Council insisted the new US policy was not consistent with past resolutions, including one that declares east Jerusalem to be Israeli-occupied.
The meeting was requested by eight of the 15 members of the council, but was largely symbolic as no vote on a resolution was planned because the US wields veto power.
North Korea also joined near-universal condemnation of Trump’s decision, calling it a “reckless, wicked act.”
“Considering the fact that the mentally deranged dotard openly called for a total destruction of a sovereign state at the UN, this action is not so surprising,” a North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed the international concern.
Additional reporting by AFP
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