Israel bombards Gaza with air strikes

No casualties were reported in the latest assault on the enclave.

Flames are seen following an Israeli air strike in the town of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, early on October 23, 2020.
AFP

Flames are seen following an Israeli air strike in the town of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, early on October 23, 2020.

The Israeli military said it launched overnight air strikes in the Gaza Strip after two rockets were fired across the border.

There were no casualties reported from both sides.

Late Thursday, two rockets were fired into Israel. 

One was intercepted by Israeli missile defences, while the other fell in an open area.

READ MORE: Gaza suffocates as Israel escalates its aggression on the enclave

Israel and Gaza's governing political party Hamas have fought three wars and several skirmishes since coming to power in 2007. 

Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza, including those claimed by other groups.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a crippling blockade on the coastal territory, which is home to 2 million Palestinians, since Hamas seized power.

READ MORE: Israel attacks Gaza over balloon fire bombs, Hamas warns of 'consequences'

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Fragile ceasefire

Last September, Palestinian resistance groups and Israel have agreed to end a weeks-long escalation of unrest along the volatile Israel-Gaza fence, Hamas and Israel said.

After talks with Qatari envoy Mohammed el Emadi, "an understanding was reached to rein in the latest escalation and end (Israeli) aggression against our people", said the office of the Palestinian group's Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar.

In previous escalation, Israel had bombed Gaza almost daily since August 6 in response to airborne incendiary devices and, less frequently, rockets launched across the border.

The fire bombs, crude devices fitted to balloons, inflated condoms, or plastic bags, have triggered more than 400 blazes and damaged swathes of farmland in southern Israel, according to the Israeli authorities.

READ MORE: Human rights groups fear for life of Palestinian hunger striker

READ MORE: 20th anniversary of Palestine's Second Intifada

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