23 May 2018•Update: 23 May 2018
GAZA CITY, Palestine
Israeli military carried out airstrikes on two boats off the besieged Gaza Strip early Wednesday.
In a statement, chairman of the National Committee to Break the Siege, Aladdin al-Batta, said the two boats hit by the Israeli army were preparing to meet a flotilla that was supposed to be in Gaza next month.
The boats have been targeted for the second time in less than a month, he added.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli/Egyptian blockade that has largely destroyed the enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of basic commodities.
Israeli jets also hit targets belonging to the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas in the northern part of Gaza Strip.
No casualties or injuries were reported in both incidents.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said in a statement it conducted two airstrikes on targets allegedly belonging to Hamas’s naval force and underground infrastructure.
At least 65 Palestinians were martyred by Israeli gunfire during protests in eastern Gaza on May 14. Thousands more were injured.
The demonstration coincided with the Nakba, and relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Since the Gaza rallies began on March 30, more than 110 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire.
Reporting by Hani Es Sair and Afra Aksoy:Writing by Handan Kazanci
