Nine Palestinians, including a Hamas commander and three children, were martyred in an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip.
According to Arab media, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip targeted residential areas in the northwestern Gaza Strip of Beit Hanoun.
Arab media quoted Palestinian officials as claiming that several shells fell on moving vehicles and motorbikes and piled up bodies on the road. The videos on social media feature gruesome scenes from the scene.
According to Arab media reports, nine people, including three children, have been martyred as a result of the shelling.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conrex said Hamas had fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for an Israeli operation in the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in response to which the Israeli army launched an airstrike in Gaza.
A senior Hamas commander was also killed in the attack, according to the spokesman. “We have started, I repeat, we have started targeting military targets in Gaza,” the spokesman added.
Sources in Gaza confirmed to Agence France-Presse that a Hamas commander had been killed in the attack.
According to Arab media, the martyred commander has been identified as Muhammad Abdullah Fayyaz.
Earlier, Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades towards Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque as weeks-long stresses between Israel and the Palestinians over Jerusalem intensified again.
According to police, many injured have been taken to the hospital.
Calls for calm emitted in from the United States and the United Nations while the European Union and Jordan express deep concerns over this matter.
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