Israeli air raids in Gaza cause no casualties: Palestinians

Israel carried out two air strikes overnight on Monday in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, but caused no casualties, Palestinian security sources said.

The first raid targeted a training camp of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

The second raid occurred in the northern part of the strip near the community of Beit Lahiya, the security sources said.

A Palestinian militant was critically wounded on Sunday when an Israeli air strike hit central Gaza. The army said it targeted a “key” figure responsible for cross-border rocket fire.

Tensions have risen in and around Gaza after a year of relative calm, with army figures showing 33 rockets have been fired at southern Israel since the start of this year.

The increase in Israeli raids and Palestinian rocket attacks as well as border incidents in the last few weeks raise the possibility of a major new confrontation between Israel and the Hamas movement, which has run Gaza since 2007.