The Russian Foreign Ministry is calling on all parties involved in conflict in the Gaza Strip to take steps to de-escalate the conflict and normalize the situation. "Moscow is deeply concerned about the new escalation of tension surrounding Gaza. Terrorist attacks on Israeli cities and excessive use of force in relation to Gaza's civilians deserve condemnation," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We once again call on the parties involved in this confrontation to take all the necessary steps to end armed confrontation and normalize the situation as soon as possible," it said.
Israel sanctions callup of 40,000 reservists for Gaza
Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday authorised the military to call up 40,000 reservists for a possible assault on the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported.
The move came during the most serious flare-up over Gaza since November 2012 as Palestinian militants rain rockets into southern Israel and Israeli warplanes pounded the territory, AFP reports.
Five killed in air strike during first day of Israeli military campaign in Gaza
An Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza City killed four people on Tuesday, medics said, changing the death toll to five. "Four people were killed in a Israli strike on a civilian car in the Daraj neighbourhood in the center of Gaza City," emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP. Earlier Tuesday an Israeli air strike on the central Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian man, an emergency services spokesman said.
14 Palestinians wounded in air bombings as Israel launches military campaign in Gaza
At least 14 Palestinians have been wounded in Israeli air bombings of about 50 targets in Hamas-controlled Gaza, including the homes of Palestinian leaders.
Earlier, Israel announced a full-scale military operation against Hamas after Palestinian jihadists claimed responsibility for a massive rocket attack on Israeli territory.
"At least 14 people were wounded overnight, nine of them in an air attack that damaged the home of one of the leaders of the Democratic Front from the Liberation of Palestine, Mohammed al-Abdullah," the RIA Novosti reports quoting a Palestinian medical source.
The homes of four other senior members of Palestinian factions were bombed.
Israeli aircraft and naval artillery bombed a total of 50 sites throughout the enclave, including 18 disguised rocket launchers, Israeli media report.
The bombings were particularly intensive on outskirts of Jabalia in the north of Gaza on the border with Israel, Palestinian sources say.
Israeli Defense Forces launch operation "Protective Edge" against Hamas
The IDF announced military operation against Hamas after Monday Palestinian extremists in the Gaza Strip fired dozens of rockets into Israeli territory. This is stated in a press release of the army.
"The IDF launched Operation "Protective Edge" in the Gaza Strip against Hamas in order to stop terror against Israeli citizens, they face every day," said in a statement, reports Itar-Tass.
The Israeli air force launched dozens of raids on the Gaza Strip overnight after massive rocket fire from the enclave pounded southern Israel, leaving at least 12 people injured, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said Tuesday.
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed an air operation code-named Protective Edge had been launched, but did not give details. Several houses were targeted in the raids on the southern Gaza Strip, notably in Khan Yunes, witnesses said.
Israel had "crossed a red line by attacking houses", warned the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement which has its stronghold in Gaza.
"If this policy does not stop we will respond by enlarging the radius of our targets to the point where the enemy will be surprised," it said in a statement.
Hamas militants in Gaza on Monday fired dozens of rockets at Israel, triggering the response in a new escalation which threatened to spiral into another major confrontation.
It was the worst escalation in and around Gaza since November 2012, with tensions threatening to drag the region into a fresh confrontation as Israel sought to contain five days of violent clashes in Arab localities following the grisly murder of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists.
The Israeli military said Monday more than 40 rockets had been fired at the south within a short period. "A barrage of over 40 rockets was launched from the Gaza Strip in the past hour. Seven rockets were intercepted over the city of Ashdod and five rockets were intercepted over Netivot," an army statement said, indicating that some 30 rockets had hit inside Israel.
Sirens were heard in 10 locations, including in Beit Shemesh around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Gaza Strip, a military statement said. Around 16 rockets struck the area around the southern city of Beersheva, 40 kilometres from Gaza. Beersheva is home to 200,000 people.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks. "Al-Qassam fired dozens of rockets on Netivot and Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ofakim in response to the Zionist aggression," a statement said. "Qassam rockets are a natural reaction to the Israeli crimes against our people," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in a statement. "We are not afraid of your threats and will not surrender to your conditions, we will respond to your crimes."
Shortly afterwards, Israeli warplanes hit more than 30 targets near the southern Gaza city of Rafah in an area close to the Israeli border which is riddled with tunnels, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said to AFP.
Israel's Channel 1 television said the attacks came after the security cabinet gave the military a green light to "toughen the response to Hamas". The channel also showed footage of dozens of tanks massing near the border with Gaza, preparing for a possible offensive against the enclave.
"With this barrage of rockets, Hamas has crossed the red line, and unfortunately it will pay for it," senior officials told the private Channel 10 television. The rocket fire came several hours after Israel staged around 16 air strikes on targets across Gaza, following a night in which warplanes attacked 14 targets, killing at least three militants, one from Hamas and two from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC). "The Zionist enemy has opened the gates of hell on itself," the PRC said.
Another five Hamas militants died and one was critically injured when a tunnel collapsed near Rafah, with the armed wing blaming it on an Israeli air strike. But the Israeli army denied hitting the area, with a spokesman describing it as a work accident by militants mishandling explosives.
The latest flare-up came a day after Israel arrested six Jewish extremists in connection with the killing of the Palestinian teenager, who was kidnapped and burnt to death in a suspected revenge crime after last month's abduction and murder of three Israeli youths in the West Bank.
During the investigation, three of the suspects admitted to the murder in which the victim was burned alive, an official close to the investigation said to AFP.
The July 2 killing sparked five days of violent clashes in annexed east Jerusalem and in Arab towns across Israel, with police arresting hundreds of people. "Three out of six suspects in custody have confessed to the murder and burning of Mohammed Abu Khder, and performed a re-enactment of the crime," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The killing has caused shock, outrage, and no small measure of shame in Israel. "To take a young boy, to kill him, to burn him - what for?" asked outgoing President Shimon Peres.
On Monday, both Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the teenager's father to convey their condolences and express outrage over the murder. "I am ashamed on behalf of my nation and grieve with you," Peres said, while Netanyahu condemned the murder as "abhorrent". Overnight, the angry protests which have gripped east Jerusalem and Arab Israeli towns continued to spread, with police arresting 110 people.
Much of the violence began in the Triangle, a concentration of Arab towns and villages close to the border with the northern West Bank, but has since spread to the Galilee region as well as to the southern Negev desert.
"We once again call on the parties involved in this confrontation to take all the necessary steps to end armed confrontation and normalize the situation as soon as possible," it said.
Israel sanctions callup of 40,000 reservists for Gaza
Israel's security cabinet on Tuesday authorised the military to call up 40,000 reservists for a possible assault on the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported.
The move came during the most serious flare-up over Gaza since November 2012 as Palestinian militants rain rockets into southern Israel and Israeli warplanes pounded the territory, AFP reports.
Five killed in air strike during first day of Israeli military campaign in Gaza
An Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza City killed four people on Tuesday, medics said, changing the death toll to five. "Four people were killed in a Israli strike on a civilian car in the Daraj neighbourhood in the center of Gaza City," emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP. Earlier Tuesday an Israeli air strike on the central Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian man, an emergency services spokesman said.
14 Palestinians wounded in air bombings as Israel launches military campaign in Gaza
At least 14 Palestinians have been wounded in Israeli air bombings of about 50 targets in Hamas-controlled Gaza, including the homes of Palestinian leaders.
Earlier, Israel announced a full-scale military operation against Hamas after Palestinian jihadists claimed responsibility for a massive rocket attack on Israeli territory.
"At least 14 people were wounded overnight, nine of them in an air attack that damaged the home of one of the leaders of the Democratic Front from the Liberation of Palestine, Mohammed al-Abdullah," the RIA Novosti reports quoting a Palestinian medical source.
The homes of four other senior members of Palestinian factions were bombed.
Israeli aircraft and naval artillery bombed a total of 50 sites throughout the enclave, including 18 disguised rocket launchers, Israeli media report.
The bombings were particularly intensive on outskirts of Jabalia in the north of Gaza on the border with Israel, Palestinian sources say.
Israeli Defense Forces launch operation "Protective Edge" against Hamas
The IDF announced military operation against Hamas after Monday Palestinian extremists in the Gaza Strip fired dozens of rockets into Israeli territory. This is stated in a press release of the army.
"The IDF launched Operation "Protective Edge" in the Gaza Strip against Hamas in order to stop terror against Israeli citizens, they face every day," said in a statement, reports Itar-Tass.
The Israeli air force launched dozens of raids on the Gaza Strip overnight after massive rocket fire from the enclave pounded southern Israel, leaving at least 12 people injured, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said Tuesday.
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed an air operation code-named Protective Edge had been launched, but did not give details. Several houses were targeted in the raids on the southern Gaza Strip, notably in Khan Yunes, witnesses said.
Israel had "crossed a red line by attacking houses", warned the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement which has its stronghold in Gaza.
"If this policy does not stop we will respond by enlarging the radius of our targets to the point where the enemy will be surprised," it said in a statement.
Hamas militants in Gaza on Monday fired dozens of rockets at Israel, triggering the response in a new escalation which threatened to spiral into another major confrontation.
It was the worst escalation in and around Gaza since November 2012, with tensions threatening to drag the region into a fresh confrontation as Israel sought to contain five days of violent clashes in Arab localities following the grisly murder of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists.
The Israeli military said Monday more than 40 rockets had been fired at the south within a short period. "A barrage of over 40 rockets was launched from the Gaza Strip in the past hour. Seven rockets were intercepted over the city of Ashdod and five rockets were intercepted over Netivot," an army statement said, indicating that some 30 rockets had hit inside Israel.
Sirens were heard in 10 locations, including in Beit Shemesh around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Gaza Strip, a military statement said. Around 16 rockets struck the area around the southern city of Beersheva, 40 kilometres from Gaza. Beersheva is home to 200,000 people.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks. "Al-Qassam fired dozens of rockets on Netivot and Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ofakim in response to the Zionist aggression," a statement said. "Qassam rockets are a natural reaction to the Israeli crimes against our people," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in a statement. "We are not afraid of your threats and will not surrender to your conditions, we will respond to your crimes."
Shortly afterwards, Israeli warplanes hit more than 30 targets near the southern Gaza city of Rafah in an area close to the Israeli border which is riddled with tunnels, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said to AFP.
Israel's Channel 1 television said the attacks came after the security cabinet gave the military a green light to "toughen the response to Hamas". The channel also showed footage of dozens of tanks massing near the border with Gaza, preparing for a possible offensive against the enclave.
"With this barrage of rockets, Hamas has crossed the red line, and unfortunately it will pay for it," senior officials told the private Channel 10 television. The rocket fire came several hours after Israel staged around 16 air strikes on targets across Gaza, following a night in which warplanes attacked 14 targets, killing at least three militants, one from Hamas and two from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC). "The Zionist enemy has opened the gates of hell on itself," the PRC said.
Another five Hamas militants died and one was critically injured when a tunnel collapsed near Rafah, with the armed wing blaming it on an Israeli air strike. But the Israeli army denied hitting the area, with a spokesman describing it as a work accident by militants mishandling explosives.
The latest flare-up came a day after Israel arrested six Jewish extremists in connection with the killing of the Palestinian teenager, who was kidnapped and burnt to death in a suspected revenge crime after last month's abduction and murder of three Israeli youths in the West Bank.
During the investigation, three of the suspects admitted to the murder in which the victim was burned alive, an official close to the investigation said to AFP.
The July 2 killing sparked five days of violent clashes in annexed east Jerusalem and in Arab towns across Israel, with police arresting hundreds of people. "Three out of six suspects in custody have confessed to the murder and burning of Mohammed Abu Khder, and performed a re-enactment of the crime," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The killing has caused shock, outrage, and no small measure of shame in Israel. "To take a young boy, to kill him, to burn him - what for?" asked outgoing President Shimon Peres.
On Monday, both Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the teenager's father to convey their condolences and express outrage over the murder. "I am ashamed on behalf of my nation and grieve with you," Peres said, while Netanyahu condemned the murder as "abhorrent". Overnight, the angry protests which have gripped east Jerusalem and Arab Israeli towns continued to spread, with police arresting 110 people.
Much of the violence began in the Triangle, a concentration of Arab towns and villages close to the border with the northern West Bank, but has since spread to the Galilee region as well as to the southern Negev desert.
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