Israel shells besieged Gaza, troops shoot hearing impaired man

The Israeli military has intensified its attacks on the Gaza Strip, with its tanks pounding several positions in the besieged enclave.

"Tanks targeted a number of military observation posts” belonging to the Hamas resistance movement in Gaza early on Monday, the Israeli army claimed in a statement.

The attacks, it said, came in response to incendiary balloons sent from Gaza to the occupied territories on Sunday evening as well as protests along the fence separating the enclave from the occupied territories.

The aggression is the latest in a string of aerial and artillery attacks that hit Gaza in recent days.

The Israeli regime every so often launches strikes against positions in the blockaded enclave, accusing resistance groups there of launching attacks.

Flying fiery kites and balloons has become a new mode of protest by Gazans since March 2018, when the Tel Aviv regime began a crackdown against anti-occupation demonstrations near the fence separating Gaza from the Israeli-occupied land, killing and injuring many people.

The Palestinian movement Hamas vowed to step up its resistance against the Israeli military after two children were injured during nighttime Israeli strikes on Gaza on Friday.

Israel on Sunday tightened its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. It also banned fuel from entering the Kerem Shalom crossing between the southern Gaza Strip and the occupied territories until further notice.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli land, air and sea blockade since June 2007, which has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

Israel has launched three major wars against the enclave, killing several thousand Gazans and shattering the impoverished territory’s already poor infrastructure.

Israeli forces injure hearing impaired Palestinian

Also on Monday, Israeli forces shot and injured a 60-year-old Palestinian man at the Qalandia checkpoint located between Jerusalem al-Quds and Ramallah on suspicion of carrying a knife.

The Israeli police said their forces shot the hearing impaired man after he did not heed calls to stop after he arrived at crossing for vehicles only. He turned out to be unarmed.

The Israeli military regularly opens fire on Palestinians, accusing them of seeking to attack its personnel.

Human rights groups have repeatedly slammed Israel for its shoot-to-kill policy as a large number of the Palestinians killed at the scene of attacks did not pose any serious threat.

Israeli troops have on numerous occasions been caught on camera brutally killing Palestinians, with the videos going viral online and sparking worldwide condemnation.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk