On August 9, the Israeli military announced that a warplane of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out an airstrike on a 5-story building in the area of Rimal in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said that the airstrike was a response to a rocket attack on the city of Be’er Sheva, which is located more than 38km away from Gaza.
Earlier today, IDF fighter jets targeted a 5-story building in Rimal, northern Gaza. Hamas‘ interior security forces used the building for military purposes pic.twitter.com/bGbdzDczDy
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 9, 2018
While the Israeli military claimed that the building was used by Hamas’ security forces as a military base, Palestinian and Egyptian sources revealed that the building was an Egyptian cultural center. According to the Palestinian news agency Shehab, 18 civilians were injured as a result of the Israeli airstrike.
#شاهد عن قرب .. طائرات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي تدمر مبنى مركز المسحال الثقافي في #غزة pic.twitter.com/9tqv0PkSkR
— وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) August 9, 2018
دمار كبير وحالة من الهلع في صفوف المواطنين عقب قصف الاحتلال مبنى المسحال في #غزة الذي أسفر عن إصابة 18 شخصاً
تصوير محمد زرندح pic.twitter.com/7LLbR8FvF3— وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) August 9, 2018
Earlier, the Israeli military said that the Hamas Movement launched more than 180 rockets and mortar shells on Israeli settlements around the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. The Israeli Iron Dome anti-rocket system managed to intercept 30 projectiles only.
The escalation began a day earlier following a shooting attack that targeted an Israeli engineering vehicle north of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military held the Hamas Movement responsible for the attack and conducted more than 140 airstrikes in response.
Israeli sources reported that the Israeli government is now discussing the possibility of launching a large-scale military operation in Gaza, similar to “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014. However, many observers doubted that the government will approve this plan.
