UPDATE - Palestinian gov’t blames Israel for Gaza violence

UPDATES WITH ABBAS RETURNING TO RAMALLAH

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH (AA) – The Ramallah-based Palestinian government on Tuesday held Israel responsible for the eruption of violence in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

“The occupation government is dragging the region into further dangers and tensions,” government spokesman Youssef al-Mahmoud said in a statement.

He warned the Israeli government against committing “new massacres against the Palestinian people”.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas traveled back to Ramallah from Kuwait to follow on the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the official Wafa news agency.

“Abbas decided to cut short his foreign tour and returned back to Ramallah to follow on the Israeli aggression on Gaza,” Hussein al-Sheikh, a Central Committee member of Abbas’ Fatah group, said.

At least four Palestinians were martyred in renewed Israeli attacks in Gaza on Monday following rocket fire from the seaside territory. The Israeli army said more than 20 people were injured by rocket fire from Gaza.

Monday’s attacks came one day after seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in an undercover Israeli operation in the blockaded enclave.

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.