GAZA CITY
Fears of a possible fresh Israeli offensive rose among residents of the Gaza Strip after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Gaza-based Hamas movement of kidnapping three Jewish settlers who went missing in southern West Bank on Thursday.
Before directly accusing Hamas, Netanyahu has said that a "terrorist group" kidnapped the three teenage settlers who disappeared in Gush Etzion settlement on Thursday night.
However, no Palestinian group, including Hamas which remains in de facto control of Gaza, has claimed responsibility for the alleged kidnapping.
"Netanyahu's accusation tells of an imminent vicious attack on Gaza as Hamas's stronghold," Ahmed Nabih, a driver, told Anadolu Agency as he lodged his car in a long line outside a gas station in the strip to load up on fuel, which the strip would run acutely short of in case of an Israeli onslaught.
Following a series of Israeli raids on the besieged enclave on Saturday, hundreds of residents in Gaza – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – rushed to stock up on food and other supplies fearing markets would run out in case of an Israeli attack.
One Palestinian woman was injured in the raids, which also left severe property damage, according to earlier reports.
The Israeli army has also closed down all crossings with the Gaza Strip and cordoned off the West Bank city of Hebron in its search efforts for the three Jewish teenage settlers.
"We are already suffering a great deal," said Randa al-Nagar, housewife and mother of seven.
"If another war erupts the situation will be very dangerous."
Fears
Gaza has groaned under an Israeli blockade imposed since 2006, depriving the coastal enclave's residents of their most basic needs.
The siege came after Hamas – which Israel considers a "terrorist" group – won a majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian parliament elections.
The siege then intensified after Hamas took control over the Gaza Strip in 2007 after routing troops loyal to rival Fatah movement in the West Bank.
Israel has waged two wars on the Gaza Strip within less than a decade, leaving thousands of Palestinians killed or injured.
Odai Abdel-Rahman, a high-school student, feared a possible Israeli attack would disrupt his final examinations, which have started a week ago.
"Yesterday's Israeli shelling prevented us from concentrating while trying to study," Abdel-Rahman, 19, told Anadolu Agency.
Around 85,000 Palestinian high-school students across the Palestinian territories, near half of which are from the Gaza Strip, are currently undergoing the pivotal high-school examinations, scheduled to end on June 26.
"I don't know how exams could continue in this atmosphere," he said. "What we fear now is a real war."
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed Netanyahu's accusations as being "stupid" and "intelligence-driven," in a statement earlier on Sunday.
Netanyahu said he was only able to reveal the accusation after Israeli security forces had raided the homes of scores of Hamas leaders and members in the West Bank and detained them.
For his part, Abu Zuhri warned Israel against escalating its aggressions against the Palestinian people after Netanyahu's accusation.
Israeli forces have earlier detained around dozens of Hamas leaders during pre-dawn raids on their West Bank homes.
The detainees included former ministers, lawmakers and mosque preachers, according to the Palestinian NGO Palestinian Prisoners' Club.
By Ola Attalah
www.aa.com.tr/en
