Israeli air strikes pummel 150 targets in Gaza, killing three

Attacks came after militants in Gaza fired 180 mortars and rockets into Israel, the military said

Reading Time:3 minutes

A general view of Said al-Mishal Cultural Centre building destroyed in Israeli air strike in the west of Gaza City on August 9. Photo: EPA

Published: 9:50am, 10 Aug 2018Updated: 11:07am, 10 Aug 2018

Israeli aircraft struck more than 150 targets in Gaza in response to a barrage of rockets from the Palestinian territory, the Israeli military said Thursday, marking a sharp escalation even as negotiations were taking place over a long-term ceasefire.

Militants in the strip fired more than 180 rockets and mortars into Israel, the Israeli military said. Most were intercepted or fell on open ground. But at least 11 Israelis were injured after projectiles slammed into residential areas, blowing out windows and leaving cars and buildings pockmarked with shrapnel.

In the Israeli air strikes that followed, three Palestinians were killed, including a 23-year old pregnant woman and her 18-month-old daughter, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.

“She was killed for nothing! What was the guilt of the baby?” asked Said Khamash, a cousin of the woman’s husband, who was injured in the air strike, which left a gaping hole in the ceiling of their modest home in the Wadi al-Salqa area of central Gaza.

The Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile system fires an interceptor missile towards rockets launched from Gaza near the southern city of Sderot on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

The Israeli military said it struck only military targets, including production sites for weapons and tunnels. Also killed was a fighter with Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza.

The escalation, one of the most intense exchanges of fire since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, came in the middle of Egyptian-brokered talks in Cairo over a ceasefire between the two sides after repeated outbreaks of violence in recent months.