At least 24 Palestinians, including six children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Friday and Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. More than 200 people were injured, he said Reuters.
Israel began bombing Gaza on Friday and continued on Saturday. According to the Israeli army, weapons depots have been hit in residential areas and a number of houses have been destroyed. From Gaza, the militant Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of rockets at Israel, as far as the second city of Tel Aviv. As far as is known, there have been no casualties on the Israeli side.
Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the enclave, blames Israel for the dead from a bombing near the Jabalaya refugee camp. However, the Israeli military says the explosion was caused by a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch. That would be seen on a video, but news agency Reuters could not verify the images.
Shortly before Friday’s attack, Israel halted a planned fuel shipment to Gaza. As a result, the enclave’s only power station is shut down. The electricity supply has been reduced to approximately eight hours a day. The healthcare sector fears that hospitals will experience the serious consequences of the power shortage within a few days.
Neighboring Egypt says it is in intensive talks to calm the situation. A senior Egyptian intelligence delegation arrived in Israel on Saturday and wants to mediate in Gaza.
The cross-border conflict, which ended more than a year of relative calm around Gaza, began when Israel launched a surprise attack on Friday. A high-ranking Islamic Jihad commander was killed and a series of targets – according to Israel – were hit.
The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Monday to discuss airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. The United Arab Emirates, Ireland, France, Norway and China had requested this.
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