Israel said Wednesday that Hamas fired rockets into Israel from a protected humanitarian area in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, further evidence of the extent to which Hamas is violating international law and putting civilians at risk.
Two rockets Release On Tuesday, attacks came from Gaza towards Tel Aviv, marking the first time a major Israeli coastal city has been targeted since May.
Tuesday was a significant day because it marked Tisha Vau, the annual Jewish commemoration of the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
One rocket fell in the Gaza Strip, while the other landed in the sea without posing a threat to Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said:
Shortly before, a projectile confirmed to have come from the Gaza Strip fell into central Israeli waters. In accordance with regulations, no sirens were sounded.
At the same time, additional projectiles were seen which did not enter Israeli territory.
The launch point was later confirmed to have been coming from the humanitarian corridor, which prompted the IDF to temporarily halt civilian movement along the corridor and strike terrorist positions adjacent to the corridor.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement:
Today (Tuesday), Hamas terrorists opened fire on a humanitarian route in the Rafah area.
As a result, movement and coordination along the humanitarian route has been temporarily halted as the area is now a war zone.
Terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to exploit every opportunity to carry out terrorist attacks against the State of Israel at the expense of Gaza’s civilians, including by exploiting humanitarian routes and aid intended for civilians.
IDF (via COGAT) [Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories]will continue to operate in accordance with international law to permit and facilitate humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
In a further statement on Wednesday, the IDF said:
Yesterday (Tuesday), the Hamas terrorist organization fired rockets into central Israel from the humanitarian route in Khan Yunis. Shortly after, the Israeli Air Force struck terrorist targets in the area from which the rockets were fired. The attack took place adjacent to the launch point outside the humanitarian route.
The Hamas terrorist organization continues to deliberately position military assets it uses to carry out attacks on Israel near humanitarian infrastructure and civilians within the Gaza Strip.
Israeli government spokesman David Mensah confirmed Wednesday morning that Hamas had exploited the humanitarian facility to attack Israel.
He said Hamas’s use of humanitarian areas and school facilities to launch attacks was part of a “systematic pattern of using civilian populations and civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes.”
He said Hamas targets civilian deaths as a strategy and that the media, particularly the BBC, frequently “misreport” “exaggerated” Palestinian casualty figures provided by Hamas.
“The BBC is being fooled. They’re being fooled by terrorists,” he said.
Hamas is responsible for all civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip because it used civilians as human shields, he added.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
