Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

2 days ago

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

2 days ago

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

2 days ago

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

2 days ago

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

2 days ago

Construction of $200M Trump Ballroom at the White House to Begin in September

3 days ago

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

3 days ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

3 days ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

4 days ago
Israel Strikes Gaza Targets in Response to Heavy Rocket Fire
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
May 4, 2019

Share

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired scores of rockets into southern Israel on Saturday, wounding at least two Israeli civilians and triggering retaliatory airstrikes and tank fire against militant targets in the Hamas-ruled enclave and shattering a month-long lull in violence.

Israeli officials said a 50-year-old woman was severely wounded by rocket fire, while a teenage boy was mildly hurt as he ran for cover. Gaza’s Health Ministry said a 22-year-old Palestinian man was killed by an Israeli airstrike, and 13 other Palestinians were wounded. Israeli police said a house in the coastal city of Ashkelon was damaged.

Tensions Have Risen in Recent Days

The outbreak of fighting came as leaders from Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, and the smaller armed faction Islamic Jihad were in Egypt for talks with mediators aimed at restoring a fraying cease-fire. Hamas leaders have hoped the recent calm would pave the way for a deeper, longer-term cease-fire.

Tensions have risen in recent days amid allegations from Hamas that Israel has been delaying implementation of last month’s cease-fire understandings.

The Israeli military accused the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad of instigating this round of violence by shooting and wounding two Israeli soldiers Friday. It said the shooting was not coordinated with Hamas, but blamed the movement for the flare-up in its capacity as the territory’s rulers.

Israel Hit with Rockets, Launches Retaliatory Strikes

Air raid sirens sounded in southern Israel throughout the day. By late afternoon, the military said some 150 rockets had been fired into Israel by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. It said dozens of rockets were intercepted by its Iron Dome rocket-defense system, and that roads near the Gaza border were closed to civilian traffic. Israeli police said they had dispatched bomb disposal experts to the country’s south to deal with projectiles that landed in open areas.

The army said its chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, convened an emergency session with top security officials to discuss the situation. Later, it said it had hit 30 targets in Gaza, including what it said were five Hamas military compounds and a “high-end Islamic Jihad tunnel” prepared to attack Israel.

COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said it was closing the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast altogether and sealing Israel’s two land crossings with Gaza. The crossings are used by Palestinian medical patients to enter and exit the territory, and provide the main entry for cargo into the blockaded territory.

The European Union’s ambassador to Israel, Emanuele Giaufret, sharply criticized the rocket attacks on Twitter, saying “firing indiscriminately against civilians (is) unacceptable.”

Islamic Jihad, which sometimes acts independently of Hamas, threatened to fire longer range rockets toward Israel’s heartland. In a video that also was seen an implicit claim of responsibility, it showed archived footage of militants attaching warheads to rockets.

Previous Agreement to Ease Blockade Had Begun to Unravel

Israel and Egypt have maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. The sides are bitter enemies and have fought three wars and engaged in numerous smaller flare-ups of violence.

Following heavy fighting in late March, Israel agreed to ease the blockade in exchange for a halt to rocket fire. This included expanding a fishing zone off Gaza’s coast, increasing imports into Gaza and allowing the Gulf state of Qatar to deliver aid to cash-strapped Gaza.

But like previous Egyptian-mediated agreements, those understandings have shown signs of unraveling in recent days.

On Friday, two Palestinians were fatally shot by Israeli forces during the weekly protests along Israel-Gaza perimeter fence. Palestinian militants also shot and wounded two Israeli soldiers along the border fence. No group claimed responsibility for the shooting. In response, Israeli aircraft carried out retaliatory strikes, killing two Hamas militants.

Hamas has hoped that Egyptian mediators could further ease the blockade, which has ravaged Gaza’s economy. For over a year, the Islamic group has orchestrated mass demonstrations each week along the Israeli frontier to draw attention to Gaza’s plight. More than 200 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have been killed in the border protests.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

This Test Can See a Heart Attack in Your Future

DON'T MISS

‘South Park’ Skewers a New Kind of Sanctimony and Trump

DON'T MISS

India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump’s Threats, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

The US Said It Had No Choice but to Deport Them to a Third Country. Then It Sent Them Home

DON'T MISS

Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s Dog Daze Fest Returns With The Chainsmokers Headlining

DON'T MISS

Willow the Streetwise Poodle Mix Gets a Second Chance

DON'T MISS

Newsom Wants Voters to Weigh In on New Congressional Districts in November

DON'T MISS

Kia America Recalls 201,149 US Telluride Vehicles

DON'T MISS

US Reviewing Visa Denial for Venezuelan Little League Players, State Department Says

UP NEXT

The US Said It Had No Choice but to Deport Them to a Third Country. Then It Sent Them Home

UP NEXT

Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

UP NEXT

US Reviewing Visa Denial for Venezuelan Little League Players, State Department Says

UP NEXT

Hamas Says It Won’t Disarm Unless Independent Palestinian State Established

UP NEXT

Corruption Scandal Puts Mexico’s President on Defense Against Trump

UP NEXT

US Judges Speak Out About Death Threats, ‘Swattings,’ and ‘Pizza Doxings’

UP NEXT

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

UP NEXT

Trump Eyes Bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian Nations Into Abraham Accords, Sources Say

UP NEXT

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

UP NEXT

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

The US Said It Had No Choice but to Deport Them to a Third Country. Then It Sent Them Home

21 hours ago

Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

22 hours ago

Fresno’s Dog Daze Fest Returns With The Chainsmokers Headlining

23 hours ago

Willow the Streetwise Poodle Mix Gets a Second Chance

23 hours ago

Newsom Wants Voters to Weigh In on New Congressional Districts in November

24 hours ago

Kia America Recalls 201,149 US Telluride Vehicles

24 hours ago

US Reviewing Visa Denial for Venezuelan Little League Players, State Department Says

1 day ago

Hamas Says It Won’t Disarm Unless Independent Palestinian State Established

1 day ago

Gifford Fire Grows to 23,588 Acres in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

1 day ago

Fresno Donates Firefighting Gear to Sister City Guadalajara

1 day ago

This Test Can See a Heart Attack in Your Future

A long list of Lynda Hollander’s paternal relatives had heart disease, and several had undergone major surgeries. So when she hit her mid-50...

48 minutes ago

48 minutes ago

This Test Can See a Heart Attack in Your Future

49 minutes ago

‘South Park’ Skewers a New Kind of Sanctimony and Trump

A view shows oil pump jacks outside Almetyevsk in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia June 4, 2023. (Reuters File)
20 hours ago

India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump’s Threats, Officials Say

A Lao man deported from the U.S. holds up his non-national ID card - a document that defines his legal status in the country he left behind decades ago, and to which he has now returned, in Vientiane, Laos, July 31, 2025. REUTERS/Phoonsab Thevongsa
21 hours ago

The US Said It Had No Choice but to Deport Them to a Third Country. Then It Sent Them Home

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on his way to New Jersey from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., August 1, 2025. (Reuters File)
22 hours ago

Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

23 hours ago

Fresno’s Dog Daze Fest Returns With The Chainsmokers Headlining

After surviving more than six months alone on the streets, a 15-pound poodle mix named Willow is now safe and learning to trust humans again. (Mell's Mutts)
23 hours ago

Willow the Streetwise Poodle Mix Gets a Second Chance

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the press after a hearing on the use of National Guard troops amid federal immigration sweeps, at the California State Supreme Court in San Francisco, California, U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters FIle)
24 hours ago

Newsom Wants Voters to Weigh In on New Congressional Districts in November

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend