Leading international news outlet the New York Times said today that the Israeli authorities are currently conducting a massive “deadly aerial bombardment that targeted at least 160 Gazan sites, including homes, and militants in the enclave responding with missile volleys aimed at Israeli population centers, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.”
The Israeli authorities say they are targeting the Hamas militants, as a response to the them firing long-range rockets over Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem.
Al Jazeera said that “sources in Gaza said Hamas had demanded an easing of the siege of Gaza as a condition for stopping the rocket fire.”
“That could mean concessions from Israel, or an opening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, neither of which appears likely,” the source added.
Al Jazeera added that “the Israeli government has sealed off Gaza for decades. The blockade intensified in 2007, after Hamas took control of the territory following an electoral victory.”
“The military-led government that came to power in Egypt last year destroyed the vast majority of the smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Sinai and shut the Rafah crossing, cutting off vital lifelines to the outside world,” the same source reported.
The Moroccan Times.
