Friday, August 1, 2014
The violent conflict between the armed factions in Gaza and the Israeli military stepped up another level on Tuesday. On a day when at least 100 Palestinians were reported killed, Hamas symbolic targets were hit, including reportedly the power plant in Gaza city, Hamas radio and television broadcasting stations, and the homes of Hamas leaders, while Hamas continues to attack through its tunnels and launch rockets at Israeli cities.
On that day, Al-Aqsa, Hamas’ radio and television broadcasting stations, were attacked. The television broadcast continued, but the radio broadcast was interrupted. The Israeli military claimed the stations were used by Hamas to convey its messages to the population in Gaza, including the denial of the Israeli military’s warnings to the people before bombings close to civilian homes. Additionally on Tuesday, a main mosque in the city of Gaza was bombed, as well as several Hamas leaders’ homes in Gaza, including the house of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas prominent leader in Gaza.
During the Israeli attack Tuesday morning, the power plant supplying most of the electricity to Gaza was badly damaged. Most — eight of ten — of the power lines carrying electricity from Israel to the Strip have already been damaged in the conflict. After the last time the power plant was attacked, a week ago, electricity supply to the residents of Gaza had dropped to only a few hours a day. According to The Boston Globe, a spokesman for Gaza’s Electricity Distribution Company says the plant, which supplies electricity to most of the Gaza Strip, was attacked by an Israeli tank.
The Israeli military claimed to have bombed well over 100 terror targets on Tuesday. Resistance organizations in the Gaza Strip continued to launch rockets aimed at the Tel Aviv area and other areas of Israel; some of these rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system.