By Nick Baum
MONDAY – 5/6/19
Israel and militant organizations in Gaza appear to have reached a ceasefire agreement around 4:30 AM after exchanging nearly 1,000 missiles and airstrikes, according to the Times of Israel. The missiles have killed a combined 27, 23 of which were Gaza citizens. Of the Gaza citizens killed, 2 were children and another 2 were pregnant women. Meanwhile, Gaza bombed multiple Jewish and Muslim communities near their border. Despite their 650 rockets fired, Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, which launches a counter-missile at the rocket to destroy it midair, successfully destroyed many.
Many have said that this exchange in attacks has been some of the worst since the two declared war with each other in 2014. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was reelected just a month ago, said that “massive attacks against terrorist elements” will continue if Gaza fires at them again. At his weekly cabinet meeting, he also said: “Hamas bears the responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also for the actions of Islamic Jihad, and it is paying a very heavy price for this.”
Hamas, a terrorist organization and the governing authority in Gaza, allegedly held one of their command centers for the rockets in a mosque, and another one of their centers in a residential neighborhood. Israel also targetted a missile at a car for the first time in years, killing off Hamid Ahmed Abdul Khudri who the Israel Defense Forces say was responsible for transferring money from Iran to terrorist groups in Gaza such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Sources and Pictures: CNN, The Times of Israel, Wikipedia, IDF, Hamas, WBUR
