New wave of violence in Gaza

Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza’s border with Eygpt after rockets were fired at southern Israel. The air attack aimed to destroy underground tunnels used for smuggling, arms.
It is the first time Israeli F-16 warplanes have targeted the eastern part of the town of Rafah on the borders with Egypt, very close to the Rafah border crossing.

The air strike came soon after Israel Radio reported that Gaza militants fired two homemade rockets from Gaza at southern Israel. Several homemade rockets have been fired at Israel since Israeli and Gaza militant groups declared a fragile unilateral truce. Earlier today there were conflicting reports on the death of a Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip town of Bait Labia, five others were also wounded.

Gaza emergency chief Mo'aweya Hassanein told news agencies an Israeli tank fired a tank shell killing a 25-year-old Palestinian and wounding five others. But Hamas security sources said, according to news agencies, that it was not a tank shell but an internal explosion, or what they called "a work accident,” and that an unexploded weapon was thrown into a fire being used to melt down scrap metal. An Israeli Army spokesman denied that Israeli tanks had fired any shell at the area.

The Israeli army meanwhile arrested 37 Palestinians in different West Bank areas, Palestinian security and Israeli Radio reported. Egypt is mediating an 18-month-truce between Israel and Gaza militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements. However an agreement was blocked after Israel attached more conditions. Israel ended a three-week military offensive in Gaza on Jan. 18, and the territory's Islamic Hamas rulers declared a cease-fire the same day. But sporadic violence has continued as Egypt tries to mediate a long-term truce. Hamas wants Israel to open Gaza's blockaded border crossings, but Israel said on Saturday it would only do so if Hamas released an Israeli soldier it helped capture in 2006.

More than 28,000 Gazans have been forced to flee their homes according to a recent UN update. The same report listed ‘protection of civilians’ as one of the priority needs of the current crisis, saying that Gazan civilians, 56% of whom are children, are bearing the brunt of the violence. Families living in the Jabalia refugee camp and in Rafah have been most affected by recent attacks and civilians there are finding it increasing difficult to find safe shelter. SOS Children runs programmes in six major areas of the Gaza Strip including Jabalia, Al Maghazi, Al Burejj, Rafah and Khan Younis.

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Written by Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children