Israel bombards alleged Hamas base in Gaza

By Mehmet Nuri Ucar

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Israeli military sources on Friday confirmed airstrikes on an alleged Hamas base in the Gaza strip.

According to the sources, speaking anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to the media, the airstrikes were carried out in response to rocket fire on Israel.

Medical sources said the strikes caused no casualties.

Since March, more than 140 Palestinians have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire during protests in the Gaza Strip.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.