Israel Launches Airstrikes Against Gaza And Threatens War

- Israel Launches Airstrikes Against Gaza And Threatens War
by Jean Shaoul, 21 August 2020, https://www.wsws.org/
Israeli warplanes bombed the besieged Gaza Strip for an eighth successive night Tuesday in response to the launching of dozens of incendiary balloons and rockets into southern Israel by Palestinian militants.
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The airstrikes and drone attacks came as Israel threatened Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the besieged Palestinian enclave, that it was risking “war” by failing to stop the balloons. The balloons have caused small fires, no casualties and almost no damage.
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The Israeli airstrikes, which according to military sources, targeted “a military base, underground infrastructure and observation posts belonging to the Hamas terror group,” included Hamas observation posts near al-Maghazi and al-Bureij refugee camps and the southern town of Khan Younis.
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They also hit a United Nations-run elementary school in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, where around 1,000 children were present. There were no reports of casualties.
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On August 18, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that his government would make no distinction between rockets and airborne arson attacks by balloons, warning that “There could be another major flareup.” Benny Gantz, Israel’s defense minister and deputy prime minister, warned, “Hamas is playing with fire, and I will make sure it turns on them.”
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On Tuesday, President Reuven Rivlin, on a visit to southern Israel to talk with firefighters, said, “Terrorism using incendiary kites and balloons is terrorism just like any other.” He added, “Hamas should know that this is not a game. The time will come when they have to decide… If they want war, they will get war.”
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Israel’s politicians are preparing for war on the besieged Palestinian enclave, even as they up the ante against Hezbollah in Lebanon in the wake of the devastating Beirut port blast, and against its primary target, Iran, threatening a wider conflagration. The continuous outbreaks of violence are the inevitable byproduct of the 13-year-long Israeli siege of Gaza that has turned the enclave into an open-air prison for its two million inhabitants.
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9 … I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a [a]synagogue of Satan.




