Three Palestinians killed in explosions in Gaza

Ismail Haniyyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, promised he would “reveal the source of the explosions” in Gaza late Tuesday night.

At least three Palestinians were reported to have been killed and several others wounded in two explosions in Gaza City late Tuesday night, local authorities said.
 

Haniyyeh continued to say, “Everything is under control and the explosions will not be able to undermine the stability of our people.

“We urge our people to demonstrate composure, especially that we, together with the security forces, are able to deal with the greatest wisdom. We need to curb rumors and listen to the Ministry of the Interiors sources. We are confident that we will reach all the parties involved in these bombings.”

The two killed in the first explosion at the al-Dahdouh junction in the southern part of the city were identified by the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health as 32 year-old police officers Salameh al Nadim and Ala’ al Gharbleh. 

According to an interior ministry spokesperson the explosion happened close to a police checkpoint. 

“Two members of the police were martyred as a result of an explosion that took place near a police checkpoint at the Dahdouh intersection south of Gaza City. The relevant authorities have started to examine the nature of the explosion.”
 

Another man was said to have been killed in another explosion shortly afterwards in Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood.

Several others were wounded in the explosions, including one critically, and transferred to al-Shifa hospital for medical treatment.
 

While the interior ministry first placed blame on an Israeli airstrike before retracting it, other reports in the Strip claimed that one of the policemen had been carrying an explosive device which detonated.

The IDF denied involvement saying that they were unaware of any airstrikes.
 

Hours earlier on Tuesday four mortars were fired at southern Israel.
 

According to the IDF, one fell in open territory next to the border fence while the other three fell inside the Strip. There were no casualties or injuries. 

In response, an Israeli aircraft bombed a Hamas observation post east of Juhor ad-Dik in the central Gaza Strip.

In the last round of violence between Israel and group in the Strip in May,which saw close to 700 rockets were fired on Israel, the Israel Air Force carried out the first targeted killing in five years taking out Hamed al-Khoudary who Israel accused of being the man in charge of transferring funds from Iran to terror groups in the Strip. 

Another Hamas operative was struck while riding his motorcycle on Salah al-Din Street, near the city of Khan Younis and the Israeli military also targeted the private homes of other senior Hamas activists. 

The targeted strikes brought Hamas to its knees and a ceasefire arrangement was hammered out.

The tensions in southern Israel come as the IDF is on high alert in northern Israel following an Israeli airstrike in Syria and alleged Israeli attacks in Lebanon, leading to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that the group would retaliate.

According to the Lebanese satellite television station Al-Mayadeen, the Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip will join any confrontation between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen quoted an unnamed source in the “Palestinian resistance” in the Gaza Strip as saying: “If war breaks out with Hezbollah, we will be at the front line.”

The source, who was described as a leader of the “Palestinian resistance,” said that Israel “must read the message of our support for the resistance in Lebanon.”

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Gaza-based groups have condemned Israel’s recent airstrikes in Syrian and Lebanon and voiced support for Hezbollah.

The situation in Gaza remains very fragile as violent incidents continue,” Mladenov told the Security Council in New York.

“Israel must calibrate its use of force and use lethal force only as a last resort, and only in response to imminent threats of death or serious injury. Hamas must prevent the indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars towards Israel. It must ensure that protests at the fence remain peaceful and prevent provocations,” he said.

Sydney Dennen contributed to this story.