Israelis endure 100+ rockets from Gaza terrorists; IDF responds in self defence

On Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip unleashed several barrages of rockets against Israeli civilian populations following the death of a Palestini Islamic Jiha (PIJ) leader who died after he took a prolonged hunger strike and refused medical help from Israel. Palestinian terrorists used his death as an excuse to harm civilians in Israel and Gaza

In total, three people were injured in Israel from the rocket attacks, all of them Chinese foreign workers who were on a construction site when the rockets struck. Five Palestinians, including children, were also injured after Palestinian rockets misfired and struck Gazan homes.

Several other rockets hit Israeli towns, including a rocket that landed in a residential street, destroying a car and damaging other cars and property. A garden of a young family was also struck.

Footage shows a rocket impact in Sderot pic.twitter.com/wXpBO9K3xw

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 2, 2023

Speaking to reporters, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the projectiles included rockets and mortars that were aimed at civilian towns and shoulder-launched missiles fired at Israeli aircraft over Gaza.

The Iron Dome air defence system intercepted 24 of the projectiles, marking a 90% interception rate of rockets heading for populated areas, Hagari said. Another 48 projectiles landed in open areas in southern Israel, 14 fell short in Gaza, 11 landed in the sea, and another seven had unknown impact sites.

It should be noted that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are both radical Islamist terror groups. They are outlawed in the United Kingdom and much of the Western world. Both organisations have used suicide bombings and rocket attacks against civilian populations, resulting in the deaths of Israelis and Palestinians. It is a criminal offence for anyone in the UK to support or defend these groups or their actions.

According to all forms of international law, Israel has every right to defend itself from terrorism and those who seek its destruction. As such, IDF forces responded to the rocket attacks with airstrikes upon Hamas and PIJ targets in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF’s defensive strikes struck targets including a Hamas training camp; a base that housed a weapons production site, a concrete production plant, and a training site; a site belonging to the Hamas naval commandos; and a tunnel used by Hamas in southern Gaza.

“All the targets we wanted to strike, we struck,” Hagari said.

Israel and the Gaza terror groups agreed to a ceasefire mediated by officials from Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations, early Wednesday morning.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said a 58-year-old man, Hashel Mubarak, was killed.

While some claim this man was a civilian, it appears he was a member of the Hamas terrorist organisation. Images of his funeral show him draped in the Hamas flag, an honour bestowed to Hamas members.

Unfortunately, five Palestinian civilians were injured in Gaza. However, the rockets that hit their homes were not from Israel, but their own rulers’ terror groups.

Around eleven rockets fired from within Gaza failed to reach Israel and landed inside Gaza. Two of those rockets damaged Palestinian homes and injured civilians, including children.

Let’s be clear, Palestinian terror groups are harming Israelis, Palestinians and foreign nations. They are doing nothing good for their people and are only harming them, just as every other terror group does. Therefore, it is shameful that some media outlets have painted Israel as the aggressor and watered down the actions of the PIJ and Hamas in this latest flare-up.

Even a United Nations branch has blamed Israel for this latest conflict because it came about after a PIJ terrorist leader died following a hunger strike in an Israeli prison. They are once again defending terrorists instead of Israel.

Khader Adnan was a senior PIJ terrorist who was in Israeli custody. He had previously been arrested by Israel and charged for various crimes, including admitting to being a member of PIJ. He also did hunger strikes in the past in similar ways, but clearly this one went much further.

It is important to understand that Khader Adnan was a terrorist leader who incited violence against Israelis and encouraged Palestinians to become suicide bombers.

A video of Khader Adnan rallying Palestinians to Jihad includes him calling upon the Quds forces to “shake the earth”, with attacks against Israel and used a suicide bomber who murdered five Israelis as an example for how others should act, asking his supporters who will be like him.

“Who among you is the next suicide bomber? Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?” Khader Adnan says in the video.

Unfortunately, too many are blind to the actions of terrorists, especially when it comes to the Palestinians. The world needs to wake up to the threat of radical extremism that Israel faces. The world banded together against such extremism when it was in the form of ISIS, but refuses to act when Palestinian terror groups act in the same way.

While there is currently a ceasefire, PIJ has vowed this is only the beginning and there will be more attacks to come. They even released a video showing their militants preparing rockets for the next attack.

Video: A message by Saraya Al Quds, Islamic Jihad Movement Armed Wing
"We haven't started yet" pic.twitter.com/kWNIASx1HK

— Local Focus – Security Alerts (@LocalFocus1) May 2, 2023

We need to continue to pray for Israel and the IDF as they defend both Israelis and Palestinians from the terror groups of Hamas, PIJ and others.

Israel is the victim, not the agressor. Israel is the only one defending both Israelis and Palestinians from terror.

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