Palestinians wheel the body of an Islamic Jihad fighter killed in an airstrike, at
a hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip Oct. 29, 2011 (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
a hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip Oct. 29, 2011 (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas' office on Saturday called on Israel to stop its escalation against the Gaza Strip, after airstrikes left five people dead and several others injured.
Nabil Abu Rdeina, the president’s spokesman, was quoted by the official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa as calling on factions in Gaza “to avoid giving Israel a pretext to wage a new war on Gaza and to tighten the siege.”
Despite the warning, resistance factions in Gaza threatened to retaliate for the assassination of five members of the al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's military wing, in the southern town of Rafah hours earlier.
They described the attack as "a crime aimed to spoil the joyfulness after the prisoner swap deal which secured freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life (terms) in Israel.”
Abu Ahmad, a spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, told Al Jazeera television that the “occupation wanted to provoke Palestinian resistance, and so our response will strike at the core of Israel.”
The remarks came after warplanes fired on southern Gaza, killing five members of Islamic Jihad's armed wing and injuring 15 others, four of them seriously, medics and security officials said.
Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces fired two missiles at a military site operated by the al-Quds Brigades northeast of Rafah. The attack killed Ahmad al-Sheikh Khalil, a prominent leader in the brigades.
Shortly thereafter rockets were launched toward Israeli targets, the military said. An army spokeswoman confirmed that three projectiles struck Israeli territory around 5 p.m., lightly injuring two people.
A statement from the Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility, AFP reported.
The reprisal attacks apparently came after sunset when according to police seven rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, with one wounding an Israeli, one slamming into a community center and another into a residential building.
Rockets hit the city of Ashdod, 22 miles from the Gaza border and the nearby town of Gan Yavneh, police said.
"One hit Gan Yavneh ... where a person was lightly wounded," spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
Police said that four rockets landed in Ashdod, one of which hit an empty community center and another a residential building.
"It was a direct hit, but there are no immediate reports of casualties," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said of the strike on the residential building.
Another rocket fell elsewhere in southern Israel, in open ground nearer to Gaza and one was fired "in the general direction" of the city of Beersheeva, in the Negev desert, but appeared to have fallen on open ground, police said.
Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, held Israel responsible for the killing of Islamic Jihad’s fighters. “The enemy must take responsibility for the repercussions of this atrocity,” said spokesman Abu Ubaida.
In a statement, he said the “Palestinian resistance factions, namely the al-Qassam Brigades, will not stand by as martyrs' blood is shed.” He said the attack came to subvert celebrations after hundreds of long-term prisoners were freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured in a cross-border operation in 2006.
Similarly, the spokesman of the Ayman Juda Brigades, a sub-division of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades, threatened that “the coming hours will see all Palestinian factions retaliating to the crime the Zionists committed against the al-Quds Brigades fighters.”
Abu Mujahid, the spokesman of the Popular Resistance Committees which helped capture Shalit, also released a statement urging all Palestinian factions to respond to “the Israeli aggression.”
Nabil Abu Rdeina, the president’s spokesman, was quoted by the official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa as calling on factions in Gaza “to avoid giving Israel a pretext to wage a new war on Gaza and to tighten the siege.”
Despite the warning, resistance factions in Gaza threatened to retaliate for the assassination of five members of the al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's military wing, in the southern town of Rafah hours earlier.
They described the attack as "a crime aimed to spoil the joyfulness after the prisoner swap deal which secured freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life (terms) in Israel.”
Abu Ahmad, a spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, told Al Jazeera television that the “occupation wanted to provoke Palestinian resistance, and so our response will strike at the core of Israel.”
The remarks came after warplanes fired on southern Gaza, killing five members of Islamic Jihad's armed wing and injuring 15 others, four of them seriously, medics and security officials said.
Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces fired two missiles at a military site operated by the al-Quds Brigades northeast of Rafah. The attack killed Ahmad al-Sheikh Khalil, a prominent leader in the brigades.
Shortly thereafter rockets were launched toward Israeli targets, the military said. An army spokeswoman confirmed that three projectiles struck Israeli territory around 5 p.m., lightly injuring two people.
A statement from the Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility, AFP reported.
The reprisal attacks apparently came after sunset when according to police seven rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, with one wounding an Israeli, one slamming into a community center and another into a residential building.
Rockets hit the city of Ashdod, 22 miles from the Gaza border and the nearby town of Gan Yavneh, police said.
"One hit Gan Yavneh ... where a person was lightly wounded," spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
Police said that four rockets landed in Ashdod, one of which hit an empty community center and another a residential building.
"It was a direct hit, but there are no immediate reports of casualties," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said of the strike on the residential building.
Another rocket fell elsewhere in southern Israel, in open ground nearer to Gaza and one was fired "in the general direction" of the city of Beersheeva, in the Negev desert, but appeared to have fallen on open ground, police said.
Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, held Israel responsible for the killing of Islamic Jihad’s fighters. “The enemy must take responsibility for the repercussions of this atrocity,” said spokesman Abu Ubaida.
In a statement, he said the “Palestinian resistance factions, namely the al-Qassam Brigades, will not stand by as martyrs' blood is shed.” He said the attack came to subvert celebrations after hundreds of long-term prisoners were freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured in a cross-border operation in 2006.
Similarly, the spokesman of the Ayman Juda Brigades, a sub-division of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades, threatened that “the coming hours will see all Palestinian factions retaliating to the crime the Zionists committed against the al-Quds Brigades fighters.”
Abu Mujahid, the spokesman of the Popular Resistance Committees which helped capture Shalit, also released a statement urging all Palestinian factions to respond to “the Israeli aggression.”
Maan News Agency
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