The heavy attack continues in the Israeli areas around the Gaza Strip, launched by the Hamas group, which since Saturday has launched 430 rockets, 130 of which in the night between Saturday and Sunday. A 58-year-old Israeli was killed at around 2.30 in the night by a rocket fired from Gaza as he was at the entrance to his home in Ashkelon, southern Israel. The man died on his way to the hospital: it is the first death in Israel since the clashes began on Saturday. On the other hand, 83 were injured, according to updates on Sunday morning, while the rocket launches are continuing. The hail of missiles is mainly targeting communities around the Gaza Strip, Ashkelon and Ashdod, and as far away as Beersheba, Beit Shemesh and Gedera.
On the other hand, the death toll from Israeli response raids on the Gaza Strip is seven Palestinians dead. Among the victims in the Palestinian camp, the 14-month-old girl who was already known yesterday and her pregnant mother, a 37-year-old woman who died shortly after the raid on the hospital. Among the wounded, about forty according to the Palestinian health ministry, at least one other child.
The escalation of tension is inevitably provoking reactions from the international community. During the night, the US State Department intervened, supporting "Israel's right to self-defense after the missile attacks". And also the Italian interior minister, Matthew, Salvini, with a tweet he expressed “solidarity with the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to the Israeli people."
One of the Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip hit the offices of the Turkish news agency Anadolu provoking the reaction of Ankara's diplomacy. “We condemn Israel – tweeted the spokesman of the Turkish presidency Fahrett's Altun – for attacking a building where Anadolu is based: we ask all governments that claim to defend freedom of the press to join us in condemning the bombing”.
In response to Israeli raids Islamic Jihad has threatened to strike important strategic objectives. In a statement, the Islamist militants warn that they could attack the Dimona atomic plant, the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv and the ports of Ashdod and Haifa.
The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yihia Sinwar and that of Islamic Jihad Ziad Nahala are currently in Cairo for consultations with Egyptian intelligence. It is still not clear what instructions they gave their militiamen from there. So far, neither Hamas nor Gaza's Interior Ministry have given instructions to the population on how to deal with this new crisis which is coming as the markets are crowded, on the day before the start of Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims.
