DEVELOPMENT OF HISTORYDEVELOPMENT OF HISTORY,
At least one Palestinian has been killed and another wounded as retaliatory Israeli attacks and rocket fire continue.
At least one Palestinian has been killed in Israeli airstrikes that have bombed the Gaza Strip for the second straight day, Palestinian health officials said.
The renewed bombardment on Wednesday triggered rocket fire from the besieged enclave towards southern Israel.
The Israeli airstrikes hit several locations in the besieged enclave, including in the south and north, as well as a number of locations of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement.
Local media reported that at least one other Palestinian was injured east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. The PIJ did not confirm that the victims were members of its group.
In a report from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Youmna El Sayed said locals were on “high alert” and worried with great concern as schools, public and private facilities were closed and people were trying to stay indoors after it on Tuesday there was a series of attacks in which at least two people died 15 people, including several civilians.
“Since the Israeli attacks yesterday, there has been a very great sense of tension and concern among Gaza residents. Everything in Gaza is closed and people have stayed in their homes,” she added.
Hamas, the group that administers the Gaza Strip, said in a statement that the rockets fired from Gaza were in response to the “massacre by the Israeli occupation.”
“The unified response of the resistance is necessary and continuous against any aggression,” it said.
On the Israeli side, authorities urged citizens living in towns along the Gaza fence to evacuate shelters or stay in temporary shelters.
Al Jazeera’s Willem Marx, reporting from Ashkelon in southern Israel, said the Israeli army was on high alert when the sirens went off. Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system also intercepted missiles.
“In the last moments there were instructions [from authorities] that people have to stay in shelters because of these barrages,” he said. “A lot of communities have been encouraged to move out of here.”
The bombing comes a day after Israeli forces attacked Gaza City and its surroundings, killing 15 people, including four children. It was allegedly an operation against three PIJ commanders.
Israeli forces also killed two people in the occupied West Bank city of Qabatiya in a night attack. A 17-year-old Palestinian was shot in the chest and taken to hospital.
The Health Ministry identified the men killed as Ahmad Jamal Assaf, 19, and Warani Walid Qatanat, 24, who were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the town of Qabatiya south of Jenin, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Smoke rises after an Israeli attack in Gaza on May 10, 2023 [Ahmed Zakot/Reuters]