- Title: GAZA: Damage at sites of overnight Israeli air strikes
- Date: 26th December 2010
- Summary: NUSEIRAT, GAZA (DECEMBER 25, 2010) (REUTERS) ***NIGHT SHOTS*** PEOPLE STANDING NEAR AMBULANCES AT SITE OF ISRAELI AIR STRIKE FIRE TRUCK AT SITE OF STRIKE VARIOUS OF AMBULANCES DRIVING AWAY RAFAH, GAZA (DECEMBER 25, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SUN SHINING OVER GREENHOUSE AT EGYPT-GAZA BORDER AREA, SMOKE BILLOWING FROM PILE OF RUBBLE MORE OF SMOKE NEAR BORDER VARIOUS
- Embargoed: 10th January 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Gaza, Gaza
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVAE8EL9KP581T4TLJINGDXFQS0R
- Story Text: An Israeli air strike early on Saturday (December 25) targeted a smuggling tunnel and a militant training facility in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli military spokesperson unit reported.
According to the spokesperson unit, the two targeted sites were used for militant operations and were directly hit.
Local Gazan officials confirmed one of the strikes, in northern Gaza, hit a Hamas training camp and wounded a Hamas militant.
On Friday (December 24), a rocket and at least one mortar bomb fired from Gaza landed in Israel. The Israeli spokesperson unit said 27 rockets and mortars were launched towards Israel from the Gaza Strip in the past week, including one that exploded near a kindergarten.
Also on Friday, Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers signalled that they wanted to defuse tension with Israel that has surged over the past week and they reiterated their desire for a mutual ceasefire.
Israel and Hamas fought a devastating three-week war in the Gaza Strip two years ago and there have been frequent exchanges of fire across the tense border since, with incidents recently spiking. An Israeli air strike wiped out a five-man rocket squad and a Palestinian shepherd was shot dead near the border.
In front of a crowd of supporters in southern Gaza after Friday prayers, senior leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar said Hamas would be committed to a ceasefire if Israel abided by it. Zahar said Hamas and other factions were committed to an agreement they had reached last year to stop rocket firing into Israel, although smaller groups continued to launch attacks.
Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, has said in the past it could agree to a long-term truce.
In a phone conversation with Reuters, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry said Zahar's declared intentions will be tested by the reality on the ground.
The United Nations said on Thursday (December 23) both sides had indicated they wanted to reduce tension around the eastern Mediterranean coastal enclave - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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