JERUSALEM: Israel announced the closure of its Gaza border crossings on Thursday in response to daily rocket fire from the enclave over the past week after US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital stoked Palestinian anger.
Israeli aircraft struck three facilities belonging to Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, before dawn on Thursday after the latest rocket attacks, Israel’s military said.
It said it targeted training camps and weapons storage compounds. Hamas usually evacuates such facilities when border tensions spike.
Two of the rockets fired were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system and a third exploded in an open area. There were no reports of casualties on either side of the frontier.
The military said in a statement that “due to the security events and in accordance with security assessments” Kerem Shalom crossing — the main passage point for goods entering the Gaza Strip, and the Erez pedestrian crossing — would be shut as of Thursday. It did not say how long the closure would last.
Some 15 rockets have been fired into southern Israel since Trump’s Dec. 6 announcement, and none of the projectiles has caused serious injury or damage.
The attacks have drawn Israeli airstrikes that have killed two Hamas gunmen. Two other Palestinians have been killed in confrontations with Israeli troops during stone-throwing protests along the border.
Israeli Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi said on Israel Radio that while Hamas, which last fought a war with Israel in 2014, was not carrying out the rocket strikes, it needed to rein in militants from “breakaway groups” or it would “find itself in a situation where it has to contend” with the Israeli military.
In Istanbul on Wednesday, a summit of more than 50 Muslim countries condemned Trump’s move and called on the world to respond by recognizing East Jerusalem, captured by Israel along with the West Bank in a 1967 war, as the capital of Palestine.
Trump’s declaration has been applauded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a recognition of political reality and Jews’s biblical links to Jerusalem, a city that is also holy to Muslims and Christians.
Israel closes Gaza border crossings after Palestinian rally
Israel closes Gaza border crossings after Palestinian rally
France deploys jets over UAE to protect its military bases
PARIS: France has deployed Rafale fighter jets over the United Arab Emirates to protect its naval and air bases against Iranian attacks, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
France has hundreds of navy, air force and army personnel based in the UAE. Its Rafale aircraft are stationed at Al-Dhafra base near Abu Dhabi.
“These Rafales and their pilots are mobilized to ensure the security of our facilities,” Barrot told broadcaster BFMTV in response to a question on French action in the UAE over the weekend to neutralize Iranian drones.
“They have carried out operations to secure the airspace above our bases.”
On Sunday, “a hangar at a French base in the United Arab Emirates was hit by a drone,” Barrot said.
“Exchanges are multiplying to determine both how the country can defend itself against future attacks and how France can protect its interests there,” he added.
France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier was however in the North Atlantic, as part of a previously planned multinational exercise, Barrot said, after he was asked if it had been sent to the Mediterranean.
To the best of his knowledge, it had not changed course, he said.
The United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on Saturday, killing Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran has responded by targeting US allies in the Gulf region.
Debris from a drone interception caused a fire that was contained at an oil industry zone in the Fujairah emirate on Tuesday, authorities said.
In Abu Dhabi, a drone struck a fuel tank terminal on Monday, causing a fire though operations were not impacted.
Tech giant Amazon said late on Monday that two of its data centers in the UAE were “directly struck” by drones, disrupting cloud services in parts of the Middle East.
