Israel strikes Gaza after rocket cuts Netanyahu’s campaign
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/09/israel-strikes-gaza-after-rocket-cuts.html
Israel says its military hit 15 targets, including a weapons
manufacturing facility, a naval compound used by militants and tunnels
belonging to Hamas, the dominant armed force in Gaza.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Hours earlier, bodyguards rushed Netanyahu to shelter in the southern
Israeli city of Ashdod when the sirens sounded during a Tuesday evening
rally, a week ahead of a general election.
Netanyahu was unhurt and several minutes later he continued his
speech, which was broadcast live on social media by his right-wing Likud
party.
However, the spectacle of the prime minister being forced off the
podium added fuel to accusations by political opponents that he has not
done enough to halt the frequent cross-border rocket strikes against
southern Israel.
The Israeli military said two rockets had been fired from the Gaza
Strip towards Ashdod and another port city, Ashkelon, just to the south,
and were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
It said Wednesday’s strikes in Gaza came in response to the rocket launchings.
There was no immediately claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s rocket
attack, which happened shortly after Netanyahu announced a plan to
annex part of the occupied West Bank if re-elected in the national
ballot on Sept. 17.
Israel seized Gaza in a 1967 war and pulled out its settlers and
troops in 2005. It maintains a naval blockade of the enclave and along
with Egypt imposes tight restrictions at land borders, citing security
concerns.
Hamas and Israel have fought three wars in the past decade.
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