by Peregba Jerry
Militant groups in Gaza, run by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, have been firing rockets into Israel since Monday night, and Israel has responded by hitting targets in the territory.
On Thursday morning, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said about 1,500 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israeli cities since hostilities escalated at the start of this week.
The health ministry in Gaza says that more than 400 people have been injured there since the conflict began, in addition to the 67 who have died.
Mr Netanyahu said the government would use all its strength to protect Israel from enemies on the outside and rioters on the inside.
But the Palestinian Authority, which governs in parts of the West Bank, condemned Israel’s “military aggression” in a tweet, saying it was “traumatising an already beleaguered population of two million people.”
On Wednesday, the militants in Gaza said they had fired 130 rockets into Israel in response to an Israeli aid raid which destroyed the al-Sharouk tower in Gaza City.
The tower, which is the third tall building to be destroyed by air strikes this week, housed al-Aqsa TV, the station run by Hamas.
Israel said it had killed senior Hamas officials in Gaza, and was also targeting missile launching sites. Hamas confirmed a senior commander and “other leaders” had died.
The IDF said on Wednesday that their strikes on Gaza were the largest since the conflict in 2014.
Residents had been warned to evacuate the buildings before fighter jets attacked; however health officials said there were still civilian deaths.
Meanwhile millions of Israelis were in bomb shelters on Wednesday evening, according to the IDF, after sirens warning of rockets sounded across the country.(BBC)
