Sunday , 5 May 2024

Israeli army says Syria ordered Gaza rocket fire with Iran backing

AL-Arabia – The Israeli army accused the Syrian government Saturday of instructing a Palestinian militant group to fire dozens of rockets at Israel from Gaza with Iran’s support and vowed to respond.

“The rockets that were launched against Israel… we know that the orders, incentives were given from Damascus with the clear involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force,” army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said referring to the Guards’ foreign operations unit.

Conricus told reporters Israel’s response “is not limited geographically.”

Israeli aircraft have struck dozens of “militant sites” across the Gaza Strip as Palestinians fired some 30 rockets into Israel in the heaviest exchange of fire between the bitter enemies in several weeks.

The fighting early Saturday followed a bloody day of border protests, in which Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinians protesting along the perimeter fence dividing Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel.

The sudden burst of fighting and bloodshed complicated the mission of Egyptian mediators, who have intensified shuttle diplomacy to achieve calm and prevent a full-blown conflict between Hamas and Israel.

The Israeli military said it had struck some 80 sites across Gaza by early Saturday morning, including a security headquarters building.

0