Israeli attacks ‘new crime’ against Palestinians: Hamas

Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Sunday denounced Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reported.

Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on several Hamas positions in Gaza late Saturday. Israeli tanks also shelled four observation towers of the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in northern Gaza.

No injuries were reported in the attacks, which the Israeli army said were in response to rocket fire from Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas termed the Israeli attacks as a “new aggression to be added to Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people.”

“The [Palestinian] resistance will continue to fulfil its duty to defend the [Palestinian] people and liberate the [Palestinian] land and holy sites,” group spokesman Hazem Qassem said.

Israel launched an 11-day military offensive in Gaza in May, in which more than 260 Palestinians were killed and thousands of others injured. Thirteen Israelis were also killed by rocket fire from Gaza.

The violence, the worst in years, came to a halt under an Egyptian-brokered truce on May 21.

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