An Escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

A new escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. On the night of 11th of May the Palestinian radicals from the Gaza Strip fired over 200 rockets at Israel. Dozens of people were injured. In response, the IDF hit 140 military targets in the coastal Palestinian enclave. They also killed about 15 operatives from the ’Hamas’ and ’Islamic Jihad’ groups. The IDF begins conscription of 5,000 reserve troops due to the escalation near the Gaza Strip. Earlier, some clashes between the IDF and Palestinians took place in the East Jerusalem, over the eviction of the Arab residents from the Sheikh Jarrah area.

On Wednesday morning, the ’Palestinian Islamic Jihad’ movement launched 100 rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip at the city of Tel-Aviv and the suburbs. The ’Hamas’ movement announced the launch of 50 rockets at the Israeli city of Ashdod, and 100 rockets at the Israeli city of Beersheba. The Israeli air strikes against the enclave have killed 48 Palestinians since Monday. More than 300 people were injured. The IDF reported that since the start of the attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, more than 1,000 rockets have been launched. 850 rockets flew over the Israeli border. Another 200 fell in the Gaza Strip itself. On Wednesday night, the IDF continued attacking the key military targets of the radicals in the Gaza Strip.

The ’Hamas’ movement announced the launch of a rocket at the Israeli airport Ramon, in the south of the country. More than 100 rockets were fired at Israeli cities. It was noted that the new strikes were a response from the ’Hamas’ to the recent destruction of the civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip by Israel, and for the deaths of the ’HAMAS’ fighters. On Thursday, the IDF launched a series of air strikes against the ’Hamas’ facilities in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli mass media reported that the ’Hamas’ internal security HQs, the bank of the movement, and the home of one of the top commanders were destroyed. Earlier Israel attacked the top military command of the ’Hamas’. The local mass media reported that the Israeli military is developing plans for a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

The Armenian Defense Ministry reported that Azerbaijani troops tried to move on the border in the Vardenis and Sisian regions. As a result of the actions of the Armenian troops, that advance was stopped. Azerbaijan was demanded to immediately leave the territory, and return to their original positions. On Wednesday, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported that early in the morning, the Azerbaijani troops tried to carry out some activity in one of the border regions of Syunik in order to, supposedly, correct the border. The Armenian troops took counter-measures as a result of which the Azerbaijani troops ceased their actions. Negotiations are underway to resolve the situation. The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the incident «an invasion on the territory of Armenia». According to him, the Azerbaijani troops crossed the state border of Armenia for 3.5 km.

«The Pentagon is searching for options to counter the terrorists after pulling the US troops from Afghanistan» — the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Security in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, David Helvey, stated. He announced that the Pentagon is studying the options to deploy the US troops at the bases in countries around Afghanistan. The Pentagon expects to «retain the ability to fly over the territory of Afghanistan». David Helvey noted that there are no agreements with the countries of the region on the deployment of the US aircraft so far. ’The Wall Street Journal’ reported that the USA are considering a possibility of deployment of the US troops, pulled from Afghanistan, in the countries of Central Asia, in particular — Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The rebels from the «Coalition of Patriots for Change» announced the re-start of the hostilities in the Central African Republic against the local government forces — the local mass media reported. The rebels announced the stop of the negotiations with the authorities, and the beginning of an offensive on the capital of the country. They also announced their intention to dissolve the parliament, and form a «government of national salvation». Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS