Israel air strikes hit Gaza

The Israeli army yesterday shelled two separate sites in the Gaza Strip, with the number of casualties unknown.

The army claimed that the two sites were surveillance towers belonging to Hamas, which governs the besieged enclave. The first strike took place in Beit Hanoun, on the northeast edge of the Strip, while the second hit Jabalia, also in the north, Anadolu reported.

The Gaza Health Ministry has not made a statement about possible casualties.

READ: Israel wounds 8 Palestinians in Gaza marches

The Israeli army claimed in a written statement early today that the shelling had come after one Israeli soldier was injured by shrapnel during the Great March of Return, which took place on Friday for the 47th week in a row.

The marches have been ongoing since the 30 March and to draw attention to Palestinians’ right of return to the homes from which they were forcibly displaced in the Nakba of 1948. The rallies have also aimed to break the 12-year-long Israel-Egyptian siege of the Gaza Strip, which has seen the enclave blockaded by land, air and sea.

Since the Gaza rallies began on 30 March, more than 230 Palestinian demonstrators have been killed by Israeli army gunfire.

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