Status: 02/02/2023 08:31 a.m
According to the military, Israeli warplanes have attacked a rocket production facility belonging to the radical Islamic group Hamas. The military had previously intercepted a missile from the Gaza Strip.
Shortly after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to the Middle East, the Israeli air force attacked targets in the Palestinian Gaza Strip during the night. According to the Israeli military, the airstrikes were aimed at a missile factory. The plant was run by the radical Islamic Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, and chemicals were stored there, it said.
A few hours earlier, Israel’s military said it had intercepted a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. There were no reports of casualties in either case.
situation very tense
The situation between Israel and the Palestinians is currently extremely tense. Ten Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers in a raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank a week ago. A day later, a Palestinian killed seven people, including a child, in an attack in front of a synagogue. Since then, both sides have repeatedly attacked each other with rockets.
At the end of a visit to the region on Tuesday, Blinken called for moderation in view of the recent escalation in violence in the Middle East conflict. He reiterated the US position that a two-state solution was the only way to bring about a lasting settlement to the conflict. The United States is considered Israel’s most important partner and a major supplier of military goods.