Gaza Strip

Three Israeli air strikes on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip overnight wounded eight Palestinians, one of them seriously, medics said on Sunday. Five people were wounded, including the one seriously, in a raid carried out on smuggling tunnels near the southern town of Rafah, they said. The other three people were wounded in strikes against metal workshops in the territory, one of them in the centre and the other in the north, they said. An army spokesman told AFP said the raids came in response to a rocket fired on Saturday into southern Israel from the enclave, which landed without causing injuries or damage. It ... Read Full Story

Hamas announced Saturday evening that it has reached an agreement with other militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets at southern Israeli towns to prevent retaliatory attacks. Hamas has mostly refrained from firing rockets since January when Israel ended a three week offensive in Gaza aimed at stopping almost daily militant attacks. Other Gaza militant groups have since continued with rocket attacks, but on a much smaller scale than before. About 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, in the Israeli offensive according to U.N. and Palestinian estimates. Thirteen Israelis also were killed. Hamas interior minister Fathi Hamad told reporters Saturday evening ... Read Full Story

Water in the Gaza Strip is so salty that it is unfit for human consumption, a Palestinian official in charge of water supplies inside the besieged coastal territory said on Saturday. "The water is no longer fit for human consumption, with analysis and international studies showing that just 10 percent of water in the Gaza Strip is usable... threatening the lives of Palestinians," Munzir Shiblak warned. He called in a statement for "the necessary measures to be taken to end the problem of salinity in Gaza water supplies, a problem that is getting worse." Shiblak called the water situation "critical." He said the amount ... Read Full Story

GAZA STRIP (Reuters) - Israeli planes carried out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, injuring seven Palestinians, Palestinian medical workers said. An army spokesman said one of the strikes, which occurred hours after a rocket fired from the Hamas-run enclave landed in Israel, had targeted a factory in central Gaza used to make weapons. Palestinians said the target was a metal foundry. Palestinian medical workers and witnesses said other targets included a caravan in the northern Gaza Strip and smuggling tunnels in the south under the border with Egypt. The attacks occurred one day after Hamas said it had reached ... Read Full Story

GAZA: Israeli planes carried out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, injuring seven Palestinians, Palestinian medical workers said. An army spokesman said the strikes, which occurred after a rocket fired from the Hamas-run enclave landed in Israel, had targeted two factories in the central and northern Gaza used to make weapons and a smuggling tunnel under the border with Egypt. Palestinian witnesses and medical workers said the targets included a metal foundry in the central Gaza Strip, a caravan in the north and smuggling tunnels in the south. The attacks occurred one day after Hamas said it had reached an ... Read Full Story