UPDATE - 2 Palestinians martyred in fresh Israeli raids in Gaza

UPDATES DEATH TOLL

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Two Palestinians were martyred in fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

A 26-year-old youth was martyred and another injured in an airstrike that targeted a farmland in the northern Gaza Strip, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement.

Another Israeli raid killed a 20-year-old youth and injured two others in northern Gaza, the spokesman said.

The Israeli army, for its part, said one of the strikes targeted a member of a Palestinian cell launching incendiary balloons into Israel.

A military spokesman said another strike targeted a group of Palestinians, who crossed the security fence on border of the northern Gaza Strip.

Tuesday’s fatalities bring to six the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in the seaside territory since Monday.

The Israeli army says the attacks came in response to rocket fire from the blockaded territory.

On Sunday, seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in an undercover Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.

Since March, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire during protests demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral home in what is now Israel.