Gaza Militants Fire 250 Rockets, and Israel Responds With Airstrikes (original) (raw)
Advertisement
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
Missiles were launched from Gaza toward Israel on Saturday.Credit...Mahmud Hams/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
- May 4, 2019
JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants launched about 250 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel from Gaza on Saturday, and the Israeli military responded with airstrikes and tank fire against targets across the Palestinian territory, as tensions along the volatile border boiled over and a fragile cease-fire faltered again.
Four Palestinians — including one militant, another man, a pregnant woman and her young daughter — were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, according to Gaza Health Ministry officials. That would bring the total number of Gazans fatally struck by Israeli fire since Friday to eight.
But on Sunday morning, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, said on Twitter that the mother and daughter were killed in a Hamas misfire, not from an Israeli strike.
The fighting also claimed the life of an Israeli man in the city of Ashkelon who was killed after a rocket launched from Gaza hit a house, the Israeli police said. In addition, one Israeli woman was severely wounded by shrapnel, according to Israel’s emergency services, as Gaza militant groups broadened their range of fire on Saturday afternoon, striking Kiryat Gat, an Israeli city about 20 miles northeast of the Palestinian enclave.
On Sunday morning, the Israeli military also said it was moving a full armored brigade to the Gaza border. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said it was being moved “with the purpose of preparing for offensive missions.”
But the measure appeared to be intended more of a warning to the militant groups in Gaza than a move toward any imminent ground invasion, since there has been no major call-up of Israeli reservists and neither side appeared to have the appetite for an all-out war.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Advertisement