Hamas, Fatah slam Israeli offensive on Gaza

By Mustafa Haboush and Lubaba Zuqan

GAZA, Palestine (AA) – The Palestinian movements of Hamas and Fatah on Saturday slammed recent Israeli offensives on the blockaded Gaza strip since Friday which have martyred five Palestinians and left dozens wounded.

Hamas on Saturday said the Palestinian resistance will not allow the Israeli occupation to attack the Palestinian people in the Hamas-run Gaza strip.

“The resistance’s response [to Israeli raids] carries a message to the enemy [Israel] that it is here” and will not allow Israel to attack our people, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanoua said in a statement.

For its part, the Fatah movement called on the international community to put an end to the "Israeli aggression" on the Gaza Strip.

In a Saturday statement, Fatah held the Israeli government responsible for the military escalation as well as “the war crimes committed by the occupation army against innocent Palestinian civilians."

"These crimes will not go unpunished and prosecuted," Fatah said.

Israeli raids on Saturday targeted several parts of the blockaded Gaza strip, martyring one Palestinian and leaving seven wounded. Palestinian factions, meanwhile, fired dozens of rockets at Israeli settlements adjacent to the strip.

The escalation started when four Palestinians were martyred and 51 wounded on Friday in Israeli army attacks on Hamas-affiliated sites and a separate Israeli attack on a Palestinian rally against the decade-long occupation and siege of the Gaza strip.