Israel says mortar shells fired from Gaza

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile shield shot down a volley of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Israeli military.

In a statement, the army said a barrage of 25 mortar shells were fired into Israel, but were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

“Two additional mortar shells were launched from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory,” it added.

No injuries were reported.

No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the shelling, which comes after four Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on positions of Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip in the past two days.

Tension has been running high across the occupied Palestinian territories since the United States relocated its embassy earlier this month from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967 and represents the heart of the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Since late March, more than 115 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli gunfire during anti-occupation protests in the Gaza Strip.

The protesters demand their return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.