Sunday, January 02, 2022
After the shelling from the Gaza Strip
Israel fires rockets at Hamas positions
After two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip fell into the sea off Tel Aviv, Israel strikes back and attacks several Islamist Hamas facilities. The hunger strike by a Palestinian prisoner also creates new potential for conflict.
After another rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, Israel’s army fired at facilities of the Islamist Hamas ruling there during the night. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said during the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that the air force had attacked a missile workshop and Hamas bases along the border.
He denied reports that two rockets fired from Gaza on Saturday were accidentally triggered due to bad weather. They fell into the sea off the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Bennett stressed that Hamas was responsible for all shelling from the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian organization Hamas, ruling in the Gaza Strip, is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the USA and the EU. Israel engaged in an eleven-day armed conflict with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in May. Egypt eventually brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on May 21. It has remained relatively quiet since then.
140 days hunger strike
The hunger strike by a Palestinian prisoner also created new tensions. A spokesman for Assaf Harofe Hospital near Tel Aviv confirmed that Hisham Abu Hawash’s condition was serious after almost 140 days of hunger strike. However, he denied that the 40-year-old’s life was in danger. The Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad warned of an “explosion” on Saturday and threatened an end to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if Israel does not release the man.
Abu Hawasch comes from Dura near Hebron in the southern West Bank. According to media reports, he has been in so-called administrative detention since October 2020, which enables Israel to detain people for six months at a time without formal charges. According to Palestinian media reports, Abu Hawash is close to Islamic Jihad.
Pictures of the bearded man in the hospital bed, looking extremely emaciated and weakened, have been seen on social media in the past few days. The Israeli organization Doctors for Human Rights announced on Twitter that an employee had examined the detainee. She reported that his life was “in immediate danger” because of poor potassium levels and possible cardiac arrhythmias.