Gaza reports injuries after Israeli air raids
July 8, 2014, 4:30 am

A Palestinian inspects a damaged chicken coop after an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on July 6, 2014 [Xinhua]

Medical sources told the media that a woman and two children were among the wounded.

Tel Aviv on Monday night launched a series of aerial assaults on Gaza in an operation called Protective Raid in response to what its military said were dozens of homemade rockets fired by Palestinian fighters into Israeli territory.

Early on Tuesday, Israeli fighter jets targeted and destroyed the homes of two suspected Hamas fighters in Rafah and Khan Younis; their families said they received an anonymous phone call warning them to immediately leave the domiciles.

But Palestinian armed groups in Gaza blamed Israel for the latest escalation, saying that it had killed seven of their fighters and that they were firing homemade rockets in retaliation.

“Al-Qassam Brigades strike the Israeli towns of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Netivot by dozens of rockets in response to the Zionist aggression,” a statement from Hamas’ armed wing said.

The military escalation comes amid heightened tensions and fears of reprisal attacks as both Israeli and Palestinian families reel from the brutal killing of three Jewish and one Arab male teens.

A cousin of the murdered Palestinian boy was himself beaten by police. The Israeli Justice Ministry says it is investigating police brutality.

On Sunday, Israeli police said they had arrested six Jews for the murder of the Arab teen; three of them confessed to the crime, police sources said.

Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to find the killers of the three Israeli teens, but also pledged to target Hamas who he said was ultimately behind their murders.

Hamas has denied any responsibility.

Source: Agencies