Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted terrorist cells across the Gaza Strip on Thursday night and Friday morning. IDF fired at the regions from which mortar shells or rockets were originating, as well as the area from which an anti-tank missile was fired at a school bus earlier this week.
IDF confirmed direct hits on two terrorist cells in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.
Palestinian sources reported the IDF strikes killed three civilians and two Hamas members. The Jerusalem Post reports 10 Palestinians have been killed in IDF attacks on Gaza terror cells since Thursday night.
A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports concern at the escalating violence in Gaza and southern Israel. Ki-moon has condemned the recent rocket fire from Palestinian militants which hit a school bus and injured two Israeli civilians.
“He calls for an immediate end to rocket fire,” the spokesperson said. “The Secretary-General is also concerned at reports of civilian casualties from Israeli operations in Gaza and calls for maximum restraint. He urges respect for international humanitarian law and calls for de-escalation and calm to prevent any further bloodshed.”
But neither Israel nor Hamas seem ready to maintain a cease-fire. Rather, these enemies seem ready and willing to go to war despite world leaders urging against it.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said the school bus attack is another incident that proves the Gaza Strip has turned into a terrorist zone: “No country would give up the safety of his its citizens and Israel stands firm on its right to defend itself. Hundreds of thousands of mothers and children in southern Israel cannot sleep at night as a result of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.”
In a published statement, Fauzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said, “The resistance movement’s response to the enemy’s massacre comes as self-defense, and to protect the citizens. It aims to pressure the occupier to stop committing crimes.”
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