UPDATES NUMBER INJURED, ADDS DETAILS; REVISES DECK
By Hacer Baser
GAZA, Palestine (AA) – Israeli attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday killed two more Palestinians, taking the death toll there to 147.
Director of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Muhammad Abu Silmiya, told Anadolu Agency that the number injured taken to the hospital has reached 22 from 15.
The injured included three women and five children, he said.
Palestine’s Health Ministry said Israel once again targeted civilians, women and children.
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 late said that 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.
The latest casualties bring the number of civilians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza to 147, while at least 1,122 people are injured.
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
