Israel Begins Striking Hamas after Rocket Attack

A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad
A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad
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Israel Begins Striking Hamas after Rocket Attack

A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad
A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad

The Israeli military said Monday it started striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after a rocket hit a house in central Israel earlier in the day, wounding seven people.

The military said that Israeli forces "started striking Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip."

It accused Hamas of firing the rocket that destroyed a house in Mishmeret, a village north of Tel Aviv.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated seven people, including an infant, a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a 60-year-old woman who was suffering from blast injuries, burns and shrapnel wounds.

There was no claim of responsibility for the early morning strike.

Monday's rocket was the second launched toward central Israel in recent weeks.

Local authorities in southern Israel started readying bomb shelters ahead of possible hostilities.

Israeli media reported that flights to and from Israel's main international airport were diverted from their normal flight paths, and train services to several southern cities near the Gaza Strip have been canceled.

The Israeli military has also closed several roads around Gaza.



Palestinian UN Ambassador Says Security Council Must Demand Ceasefire in Gaza

Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Palestinian UN Ambassador Says Security Council Must Demand Ceasefire in Gaza

Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, October 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Arab nations and the Palestinians are pushing for a UN Security Council resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Asked to respond to Israel and Hamas saying they don’t want a ceasefire following the Israeli killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, told reporters Friday that the decision isn’t up to them.

“It is not up to the fighting parties to dictate upon all of us their wishes and their activities, ... especially Israel,” he said. “It is the duty of the Security Council to say, `We demand an immediate ceasefire and compliance by all parties, and we demand that to take place, for example, within 24 hours or within 48 hours.”

Mansour said it should not be “taboo” for the Security Council to draft a resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which would make it militarily enforceable.

Mansour was speaking after he and 10 Arab ambassadors met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Palestinian ambassador said they discussed a leaked proposal from Israeli generals to declare northern Gaza a military zone and seal it off, which he said would threaten 400,000 Palestinians there with death or starvation.

Mansour expressed hope that the often divided Security Council has “the spine and the strength and the determination” to stop that from happening and demand an immediate cease-fire and the delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, “and to allow for opening a door to a political horizon.”