GAZA: The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli bombing of a tunnel near the Egyptian border killed two Palestinians on Thursday, but the military denied any involvement.
The Gaza Health ministry spokesman said in a statement the two men were “martyred and five other people were wounded as a result of being targeted by an Israeli warplane along the Palestinian Egyptian borders.”
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no knowledge of the attack, which happened before dawn.
A few hours earlier, the Israeli military said it had intercepted several rockets fired from the Egyptian Sinai peninsula at the southern Israeli town of Eilat. One rocket landed in an open area causing no casualties or damage, police said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any group for firing the rockets.
In the past, Daesh-linked groups in Sinai have claimed responsibility for such attacks. Gaza, which shares borders with Israel and Egypt, is ruled by the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas.
Egypt’s government has accused Hamas of aiding the Daesh-linked militants in the Sinai desert. Hamas denies those allegations.
The Israel-Gaza border has been largely quiet in recent months, but on Monday a Palestinian rocket launched from the enclave drew several Israeli strikes against Hamas targets.
Israel has said that Hamas bears overall responsibility for what happens in the enclave.
Hamas has observed a de-facto cease-fire with Israel since a 2014 war but small armed cells of Jihadist Salafis have defied the agreement and have continued to occasionally launch rockets at Israel. When those attacks occur, Hamas usually orders its fighters to vacate potential targets for Israeli retaliation.
In the past few years, Egypt has destroyed nearly 2,000 smuggling tunnels that provided Gaza’s two million people with goods. Gaza is under an Israeli naval blockade.
Egypt has recently eased restrictions at its tightly controlled border with Gaza.
Israeli bombing kills two Palestinians in Gaza, health ministry says
Israeli bombing kills two Palestinians in Gaza, health ministry says
Arab and Islamic states reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
- Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” on Friday
- Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity of Somalia
A group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have firmly rejected Israel’s announcement of its recognition of the Somaliland region within Somalia.
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the ministers condemned Israel’s decision, announced on December 26, warning that the move carries “serious repercussions for peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region” and undermines international peace and security, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The statement described the recognition as an unprecedented and flagrant violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations, which uphold the principles of state sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, JNA added.
Israel formally recognized Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region’s leader hailed its first-ever official recognition.
The ministers reaffirmed their full support for the sovereignty of Somalia, rejecting any measures that would undermine its unity or territorial integrity.
They warned that recognizing the independence of parts of states sets a dangerous precedent and poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
The statement also reiterated categorical opposition to any attempt to link the move with plans to displace the Palestinian people outside their land, stressing that such proposals are rejected “in form and substance.”
Alongside the Jordanian foreign ministry, the joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and Yemen, as well as the OIC.
Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed full support for the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Somalia, and expressed its rejection of the declaration of mutual recognition between Israel and Somaliland.
