ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS PALESTINIAN IN GAZA STRIP

Gaza Strip, 14 Sha’ban 1435/12 June 2014 (MINA) – An Israeli airstrike against the besieged Gaza Strip has killed one Palestinian and wounded several others.

An Israeli aircraft fired a rocket into the northern part of the besieged enclave on Wednesday, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The assault targeted a man on a motorbike and also struck a nearby car, medical sources and witnesses said.

The Israeli military frequently targets Palestinians particularly along the border with the besieged enclave.

The latest escalation came little more than a week after a Palestinian unity government was sworn in, replacing separate administrations in Gaza, run by Hamas, and in the West Bank run by loyalists of president Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas’ office condemned the rocket fire and urged Gaza armed groups to abide by previous ceasefire deals with Israel, Al Jazeera report.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev dismissed the condemnation as “empty rhetoric,” saying Abbas should instead keep earlier pledges to disarm Gaza’s fighters.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.

Over 160 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and about 1,200 others were injured in the Israel’s eight-day offensive on the coastal enclave, which ended on November 21, 2012. (T/P09/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)