[ad_1]
Gaza (Palestinian Territories) – Israel on Saturday accused Syria of ordering with Iran's help the firing of dozens of rockets into its territory from the blockaded Palestinian enclave of Gaza, promising that its response "will not not limited geographically "
Shortly after these statements, the Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad, told AFP that a truce "immediate"had been concluded following an Egyptian mediation and that it would halt the rocket fire of Gaza"in exchange for stopping the Israeli aggression".
Neither Israel nor Egypt commented on the statements of the second armed group in Gaza, but Israeli security officials confirmed that no incidents have been recorded since the announcement of Islamic Jihad.
The Gaza Strip and southern Israel, which borders the Palestinian enclave, experienced a new outbreak of violence between Friday and Saturday morning.
Six Palestinians were killed in clashes with the Israeli army during Friday's weekly demonstrations, and some 40 Gaza rockets were fired at Israel, which responded with dozens of air strikes on Palestinian territory.
The violence comes as indirect talks are under way with Egypt's help to try to reduce the tension between Israel and the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement and which is about to "implode"Because of shortages affecting the population and a strict Israeli blockade, according to the UN.
– "Riposte not limited"-
"The rocket fire in the night on Israel was ordered by Damascus with the clear implication of the Revolutionary Guards", the elite army of Iran, has accused the spokesman of the Israeli army, Jonathan Conricus.
He stressed to reporters that the Israeli response "would not be geographically limited", and could target Syria and Iranian forces in this neighboring country.
Israel has no diplomatic relations with either Syria or Iran, which it regards as its enemy in the region. Tehran is one of the closest allies of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in the war that has ravaged Syria since 2011 and Israel continues to denounce its presence in this country.
The Jewish state has already carried out strikes in Syria against Syrian targets as well as Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
The rockets fired at Israel did not kill or wound, according to the Israeli army. Seventeen of these machines were intercepted by the Israeli Air Defense, others fell in fields.
In the night, Israeli warplanes carried out strikes against "90 Hamas targets"and eight Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
Although it did not fire the rockets, Israel holds Hamas responsible for all the firing from the enclave it governs.
Nine people were injured by Israeli raids, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. A four-storey building was completely destroyed, according to AFP correspondents.
Six Palestinians died on Friday during protests that have been taking place for several months along Israel's barrier to the Palestinian enclave. Five were killed by Israeli army fire, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and one died in the explosion of a grenade he was carrying.
At least 213 Palestinians have been killed since the protests began, according to a count by AFP. An Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper during the same period.
– Avoid a new war –
The protesters claim the "right to return"Palestinian refugees on the land from which they were chased or fled to the creation of Israel, and the lifting of the blockade imposed on Gaza.
Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.
Egypt, bordering the Gaza Strip, and the UN are sponsoring indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel to try to prevent a new open conflict from erupting.
For Gaza-based policy badyst Saleh an-Nami, the firing of Islamic Jihad towards Israel may weaken Hamas' position in these negotiations, which could give the impression that it is unable to impose its view to other factions.
These shots "embarrbad Hamas to regional and international mediators intervening to conclude a truce", he told AFP.
Source link
