Israel continues with air strikes on Gaza, 17 Palestinians killed
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Gaza City, April 9, IRNA -- Israel continued with air strikes on Gaza Saturday raising death toll to 17 after nine Palestinians were killed in air attacks on Friday.
Hamas government said that since Thursday, Israel has committed war crimes against women, children and the elderly. It was also noted that Israel hit ambulances as part of strikes on Gaza.
'Israel will not succeed in achieving its political goals and will not break the spirit of the Palestinian people who stand strong in the face of escalation.'
Five of the dead were civilians, bringing to 15 the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli air and ground raids since Thursday.
IRNA reporter in Gaza City said that nearly 40 people were injured in the raids on the southern Gaza Strip and near Gaza City.
Violence has been rising along the Israel-Gaza border for weeks. There were 10 days of Israeli air strikes and subsequent rocket and mortar fire against Israel, and concern that either side could escalate the tensions into another all-out confrontation.
The Hamas government called on the Arab League to convene “and discuss the Israeli escalation to find the suitable mechanisms to stop the aggression.”
In southern Gaza, where most of Thursday’s victims lived, funeral ceremonies were held after Friday’s noon prayers and dozens of people participated, shouting, “Revenge! Revenge!”
In late March Hamas reinstated an unofficial ceasefire with Israel. The ceasefire had largely held since Israel ended its three-week aggression on Gaza in January 2009.
Hamas said it carried out some of the attacks on Israel, accusing Israel of breaking the ceasefire with its own raids.
Hamas government spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Israel was responsible for the escalation of violence and that if Israeli strikes continued, Hamas would step up its response.
Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30330732
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