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The Israeli Army reported that it attacked this Saturday, July 16, what it claims are military targets of the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip, in response to four rockets launched from the Palestinian enclave. The warlike exchange took place hours after the president of the United States, Joe Biden, concluded a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Airstrikes between Israel and the Gaza Strip take place amid Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East.
The Israeli army said it attacked two installations belonging to Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. One of their targets was an underground plant that contains elements for making rockets, he said.
No fatalities or injuries were reported in the Palestinian enclave, and some witnesses there described the sites as Hamas training camps.
According to the Israeli authorities, their assaults took place in response to the launch of a total of four rockets from Gaza towards residential areas of their country.
“In response to rockets fired from Gaza into Israel tonight, we are targeting one of Hamas’s most important rocket production sites in Gaza. This attack will significantly impede Hamas’s force-building capabilities,” the Israeli Defense Forces said on its official Twitter account.
RAW FOOTAGE: This is the moment innocent Israelis had to run for immediate shelter when terrorists in Gaza fired 2 rockets toward them.
The IDF Aerial Defense Array intercepted 1 of the rockets, saving the lives of civilians below. pic.twitter.com/1XANHbEpAo
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 15, 2022
The projectiles launched several hours apart set off air-raid sirens in parts of southern Israel, but also caused no injuries in the territory. According to the military institution, one of the rockets was intercepted, while the others fell in open areas.
“In addition to the two rockets that were already fired from Gaza towards Israeli civilians tonight, two other projectiles have just been fired into southern Israel from Gaza. The two rockets landed in open areas,” the authorities noted.
Hamas does not claim attacks and rejects Biden’s visit
No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the events. However, Israel points to Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for 15 years, as being responsible for any violence emanating from the Palestinian enclave.
Despite rising tensions in recent months, Biden’s three-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories went off without a hitch.
In Bethlehem, West Bank, Biden met with the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to whom he expressed his support for the independence of his people, but also stated that the conditions are not yet in place to relaunch the peace talks.
Hamas dismissed the White House leader’s expressions of sympathy for the Palestinians, calling the United States an “ally in aggression against our people.” He also criticized Abbas for meeting with Biden and reiterating his support for a peace process with Israel.
Hamas does not recognize Israel as a state. Since forcibly seizing Gaza in 2007, the militant group and Israel have waged four deadly wars and numerous rounds of cross-border violence.
With Reuters and AP
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