UPDATES NUMBER DEATHS, INJURIES; EDITS THROUGHOUT
By Hacer Baser
GAZA, Palestine (AA) – The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip late Saturday increased to four.
The number of injured increased to 42 from 22.
According to the witnesses, two more bodies were found under the debris of a house demolished by Israeli airstrikes.
Twenty people were taken from the debris alive, they said.
Israeli warplanes carried out simultaneous airstrikes on different areas of Gaza. Strong explosions were heard in the west, north and south of the city.
Witnesses said the attacks were heavy and houses and streets were bombarded. They said houses were hit without prior notice and there were injured people under debris.
The Health Ministry said civil defense teams were able to pull five children alive from the debris.
Tensions have been running high in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Damascus Gate since the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan as Israeli forces and settlers assaulted Palestinians.
Tensions moved from East Jerusalem to Gaza after Palestinian resistance groups there vowed to retaliate for Israeli assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah if they were not halted.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
Earlier Saturday, Hamas' military wing, the Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, said rocket attacks were carried out in response to Israel’s attacks on multi-story buildings and houses where civilians live in Gaza.
*Writing by Sena Guler
