Tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants are rising again. Two rockets fly out of the Palestinian Territory, Israel’s air force strikes back. A hunger strike creates conflict.
Tel Aviv / Gaza / Ramallah – After another rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army fired at facilities of the Islamist Hamas ruling there on Sunday night.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said during the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that the air force had attacked a missile workshop and Hamas bases along the border.
Bennett disagrees
He denied reports that two rockets fired from Gaza on Saturday were accidentally triggered due to bad weather. They fell into the sea off the Tel Aviv area. Bennett stressed that Hamas was responsible for all shelling from the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian organization Hamas, ruling the Gaza Strip, is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the USA and the EU. Israel engaged in an eleven-day military armed conflict with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in May. Egypt eventually brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on May 21. It has remained relatively quiet since then.
Hunger strike creates new tensions
The hunger strike by a Palestinian prisoner also created new tensions. A spokesman for Assaf Harofe Hospital near Tel Aviv confirmed that Hisham Abu Hawash’s condition was serious after almost 140 days of hunger strike. However, he denied that the 40-year-old’s life was in danger. The Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad warned of an “explosion” on Saturday and threatened an end to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if Israel does not release the man.
Abu Hawasch comes from Dura near Hebron in the southern West Bank. According to media reports, he has been in what is known as administrative detention since October 2020, which enables Israel to detain people for six months at a time without formal charges. According to Palestinian media reports, Abu Hawash is close to Islamic Jihad.
Pictures of the bearded man in the hospital bed have been seen on social media in the past few days, showing him looking extremely emaciated and weakened. The Israeli organization Doctors for Human Rights announced on Twitter that an employee had examined the detainee. She reported that his life was “in immediate danger” due to poor potassium levels and possible cardiac arrhythmias. dpa
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