Palestinians inspect a demolished building after Israeli warplanes hit Gaza City, Gaza on March 26 (Photo: Ali Jadallah/AA)
By Moustafa Maged Haboosh,Hamdi Yıldız
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA): Israeli warplanes continue to strike Gaza City wounding eight Palestinians, including two children, Tuesday despite reports of a ceasefire.
According to witnesses, the Israeli bombardment targeted a post belonging to the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, in the town of Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip, causing a huge fire at the nearby Omar bin Abdulaziz Mosque.
However, media sources said the army fired two missiles into a commercial building, in the center of Gaza city, wounding two Palestinians, and causing excessive damage to the property and surrounding homes.
The army also fired a missile at a residential building in the Rimal neighborhood, in Gaza city, wounding two children, and causing excessive damage to the building and some surrounding homes.
At least one Palestinian was also injured when the army fired missiles into a building, east of the Sheja’eyya neighborhood, east of Gaza city.
The army also fired two missiles into two sites, west of Gaza city, and in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, causing damage, in addition to several missiles striking Palestinian lands east of Khan Younis and Rafah, in the southern parts of the coastal region.
It was also reported that Israeli warplanes and artillery units are continuing to strike a large number of agricultural areas in southern, northern and central Gaza.
The Israeli army confirmed that its warplanes had carried out 15 bombardments in the Gaza Strip.
The Maan News Agency has reported that the army fired more than 100 missiles into various areas in the Gaza Strip.
It added that all schools, universities, banks and various institutions have decided to close their doors, to avoid civilian casualties should the situation witness a further deterioration.
The army stated that the attacks were carried out in response to rockets launched from the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Hamas announced late Monday that Egypt had managed to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza-based resistance factions. Neither Israel nor Egypt have officially confirmed the reported ceasefire arrangement.
On Monday morning, rocket fire emanating from Gaza reportedly left seven Israelis injured.
Israel responded by pounding Hamas positions across the Gaza Strip, to which Palestinian resistance factions responded in turn by firing rockets at two Israeli cities located near the Hamas-run coastal enclave.
The Israeli army has reportedly deployed missile-defense batteries in several locations across the country while sending two additional infantry brigades to the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
*Writing By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur
Additional report from imemc.org