Fighting has broken out in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, with rockets and artillery shells being exchanged, killing at least two Palestinians, wounding five others, and wounding two Israelis. The fighting coincides, perhaps not surprisingly, with the Jewish holiday of Purim, and follows an Israeli assassination of two Hamas members in an airstrike on Gaza three days ago. It's hard at this late hour (or early depending upon your perspective) to get a Palestinian view on this most recent outbreak of hostilities. Piecing together what I can from Ynet, the BBC, and the L.A. Times (and navigating through the usual distortions) it would appear Palestinian resistance began firing mortar shells into Israel early on Saturday, apparently in retaliation for the Wednesday air strike. Later in the day, Israeli Occupation Forces at the northern Gaza Strip fence "spotted and killed two terrorists approaching the security barrier near an Israel kibbutz," as Ynet reports. The story goes on to say:
"Palestinian sources in Gaza reported tank fire in the central Gaza Strip and around agricultural fields east of Gaza City, near the border with Israel. The sources said gunships were spotted above the Strip and expressed concerns that this was merely the opening shot of a more extensive assault."
This Saturday and Sunday Israel is marking the Jewish holiday of Purim, which, as I have noted in previous posts (see here, here, and here ) is traditionally a time of wars and heightened tension in the Middle East. The holiday of Purim is based upon the biblical book of Esther, which relates the story of an official in ancient Persia who launched a plot to destroy the Jews but who ended up meeting his own downfall.
Of Saturday's violence, the L.A. Times is reporting that "about 50 mortar shells were fired" into the Pitchat Shalom region of Israel, damaging a home and wounding two people, and that Israel "retaliated" with tank fire which wounded five Palestinians. The story does not mention the Israel assassination of the two Hamas members until the fifth paragraph down, and makes no mention of the two Palestinians killed later Saturday as reported by Ynet.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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