Tension in Gaza: Massive rocket fire provokes panic and death among Palestinians and Israelis

At least twenty-one Palestinians – including two pregnant women – and four Israelis have been killed by the rocket swap between the Israeli army and militants in Gaza, officials in both countries told AP on Sunday. sides.

Dr. Ron Lobel, deputy director of the Barzilai Medical Center, said his hospital has treated more than 110 people in the last 24 hours and confirmed three deaths.

The first Israeli victim of rocket fire since the 2014 war against Hamas militants is a man who died outside his home in Ashkelon after being hit by a rocket from Gaza, Israeli medical sources said.

It is 58-year-old Moshe Agadi, a father of four, who was hit in the chest by a shell burst while he was in a residential courtyard. The one that hit her home was one of the 450 rockets launched from Gaza in less than 24 hours, during one of the most intense rocket attacks in recent years.

Hamas commander, dead

Official sources in Gaza said Sunday that nine Palestinians have been killed since Saturday by Israeli air strikes, including Hamed al-Khudary, a Hamas commander. Islamic Jihad has confirmed the death of two militants in Gaza.

The Israeli army said it carried out about 220 airstrikes against militias in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Seba Abu Arar and his 14-month-old daughter, who lived in their homes in the east of Gaza City, are among the victims of Israeli bombing.

However, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli army, said Sunday that a detailed badysis had determined that a Palestinian rocket had failed and killed both civilians. Palestinians, he said, "are trying to sell a story that is not true."

Hospitals and other destroyed buildings

An Israeli hospital was also reportedly hit by a shrapnel after the rocket was intercepted by Israel's defense system.

Dr. Hezi Levy, director of the Barzilai University Medical Center in Ashkelon City, said that there had been no injuries, but that the unit Oncology of the hospital had been damaged, said international agencies.

The Israeli army announced that it had bombed a series of new targets in the Gaza Strip, including sites where Hamas militants would be hiding. The army said planes and helicopters had attacked tunnels, military complexes, a weapons manufacturing plant and several rocket launch sites.

End of the peace attempt

The outbreak of violence broke a month of tranquility. Egyptian mediators were trying to negotiate a ceasefire between the two sides, who waged three wars and clashed in several acts of violence over the last decade.

Conricus said the Israeli attacks killed eight militants on several "high-quality" targets, all considered legitimate targets for the militias. He added that Israel had attacked militia houses in which armed activities had been detected and that there was no knowledge of civilians injured by Israeli gunfire. At first, it was not possible to clarify the difference in numbers.

Israel was deploying an armored brigade on the Gaza front, with tanks ready to carry out offensive missions if necessary, he said. The army has already attacked rocket launchers, tunnels, training sites, warehouses and warehouses of Hamas, the group that governs the territory, and Islamic Jihad, a smaller group with the support of the Iran.

During the night, sirens sounded in the border area, announcing impending attacks. Schools in southern Israel suspended their Sunday clbades and the emergency protocol was activated. In Gaza, huge explosions hit the locked enclave as several plumes of smoke rose in the sky.

The Israeli Iron Dome missile system intercepted more than 150 projectiles, although several managed to pbad. According to the army, a rocket hit a house in the border town of Sderot.

Offensive promise

Israel has pledged to respond forcefully to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, suspected of launching the offensive.

The country is celebrating this week its Remembrance Day and Independence, when many people attend ceremonies in military cemeteries and street parties all over the country. The following week, Israel plans to hold the Eurovision Song Contest, an informal show that is expected to attract many tourists.

For Gazans, the violence comes just before the holy month of Muslim fasting, Ramadan, which begins Monday.

The US envoy to the Middle East on Sunday called on Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets from Gaza.

Nickolay Mladenov on Sunday tweeted "enough Palestinian and Israeli lives, wounded, damaged and destroyed homes", and called for a "return to the agreements of the last few months before it is too late".