The Palestinian group „Hamas“ said it fired numerous rockets at towns in southern Israel on Sunday in response to Israeli „massacres“ of civilians in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
According to the Israeli army, ten rockets were fired, most of which were intercepted. Israel's „Channel 12“ reported a direct hit in the southern city of Ashkelon.
The Israeli Civil Defense said one person was injured and was being treated for shrapnel injuries. Teams were sent to the sites of the rockets. Video footage released by the civil defense showed debris and broken car windows on a street in the city.
Later on Sunday, the Israeli army posted a new evacuation order on the X platform, ordering residents of several neighborhoods in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah to leave the area due to rocket attacks.
According to Gaza health authorities, Israeli strikes on Sunday killed 39 people in the strip.
A Palestinian teenager with American citizenship was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Turmus Aya, Palestinian officials said on Sunday, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
For its part, the Israeli army announced that it had shot dead a “terrorist“ who had been threatening civilians by throwing stones.
The incident is the latest in an escalation of violence and near-daily clashes in the West Bank between Israeli settlers, the army and armed Palestinians.
The mayor of Turmus, Aya Adeeb Lafi, told Reuters that earlier on Sunday, 14-year-old Omar Mohammad Rabea was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler and that the Israeli army declared him dead after detaining him.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, however, described the incident as an “extrajudicial killing” by Israeli forces during an operation in the city.
“During an anti-terrorist operation in the Turmus Aya area, the Israel Defense Forces identified three terrorists who were throwing stones at the highway and endangering civilians traveling on it“, the Israeli army said in a statement, adding that “the soldiers opened fire on the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and shooting two more terrorists“.
In recent months, the Israeli army has been carrying out “a large-scale military operation“ in the West Bank to root out Palestinian militants.
For its part, the armed group “Hamas“, based in Gaza, has in recent years expanded its influence in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority, led by the rival “Fatah“ movement, exercises limited power.
United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed met yesterday in Abu Dhabi with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, with whom he discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to release Israeli hostages, the UAE state news agency reported, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
The UAE has become the most influential Arab country in the past 30 years to establish formal relations with Israel under an agreement reached with US mediation in 2020. (the so-called Abraham Accords). The Emirates maintained its relations with the Jewish state during the war in the Gaza Strip, Reuters recalls.