JERUSALEM, March 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Palestinian militants fired a rocket
at Israel late Tuesday prompting further retaliation strikes from the Israeli
army, with the late-night exchanges threatening claims of a truce.
It comes hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was prepared
for further military action in Gaza, at a highly sensitive time ahead of
Israel’s April 9 elections.
The latest severe flare-up began early Monday when a rare long-distance
rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house north of Tel Aviv, wounding
seven Israelis.
The Israeli military hit back with a series of air strikes across the
enclave and Palestinian militants launched a barrage of new rockets. No
casualties have been reported.
Calm prevailed throughout Tuesday, with Hamas claiming Egypt had brokered a
ceasefire, but as night fell Israel said a projectile was fired from Gaza
around 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).
Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and other groups said “the rocket that hit near
Ashkelon was the work of an individual and the factions are committed to
calm” as long as Israel is.
“Our airforce just struck several Hamas terror targets in Gaza,” the
Israeli army tweeted late Tuesday.
“If Hamas think that we’ll sit idly by as their rocket fire, explosives,
and breaches of Israel’s border fence threaten the lives of Israeli civilians
– they’re wrong.
“Our fighter jets and aircraft struck additional Hamas targets in Gaza,” it
later added.
A security source in Gaza said an air strike hit a Hamas military base in
Khan Yunis.
Netanyahu, who cut short his US visit, had earlier said “we are prepared to
do a lot more”.
“We will do what is necessary to defend our people and to defend our
state,” he said via satellite link to pro-Israel lobby AIPAC’s annual
conference.
The army said that after an assessment with Netanyahu, the military chief
of staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kohavi ordered more forces be sent to the
southern region.
Kohavi also “approved completing the summoning of additional reserve
soldiers,” a statement from the military read, without providing further
details.
– Avoid fourth war –
The prime minister is widely believed to want to avoid a fourth war in Gaza
since 2008 with unpredictable consequences ahead of the elections, but he is
also under heavy political pressure.
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of protests and clashes along the
Gaza-Israel border, and large demonstrations are expected for it.
Netanyahu said earlier Tuesday that Israel’s response to Gaza fire was the
largest-scale attack on Hamas sites since the last war between them in 2014.
The government closed its people and goods crossing with the blockaded
enclave and reduced the zone in the Mediterranean it allows for Palestinian
fishermen.
It did not confirm the ceasefire announced by Hamas.
Israel’s army blames Hamas for the rocket that hit a house Monday in the
community of Mishmeret, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Tel Aviv.
A Hamas official, however, denied the group was responsible for that rocket
and indicated it may have been fired by accident or even due to “bad
weather”.