Israeli air strike in Gaza City on 16 July 2022 – still image taken from a video. (Photo credit: REUTERS TV via REUTERS)
The Israeli air force targeted several positions in the besieged Gaza Strip on the night of 15 July.
It was the first such aerial attack on the Palestinian enclave since Yair Lapid assumed the post of prime minister following the dissolution of the previous government of Naftali Bennett.
The Gaza correspondent reporting for Al Mayadeen stated that the aerial aggression targeted the western Gaza Strip, with three airstrikes targeting the site of the Nusseirat Martyrs in central Gaza.
#BREAKING Israel launches airstrikes in Gaza pic.twitter.com/pgsEDVvYdY
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 16, 2022
Palestinian resistance factions launched retaliatory strikes into the adjacent settlements near Gaza, including Ashkelon.
Israeli missile defense systems were able to shoot down most of the projectiles launched from Gaza. One projectile landed in an open field near Ashkelon.
Media coverage: “Israeli occupation claimed that two rockets were launched on early Saturday morning from the Gaza Strip, Iron Dome operators shot down one while the other fell in an open field, on the southern Ashkelon.” pic.twitter.com/nV3nqka3aa
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 16, 2022
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned the aerial attacks, stating that the move is a continuation of the crimes of the Israeli occupation and its “terrorist behavior against Palestinians.”
He said that despite the capabilities of Israeli occupation forces and their immense support from the US, they have not been able to break the will of the Palestinian people and their resistance.
“We will continue our legitimate resistance and struggle until the occupier is expelled from all Palestinian land,” Qassem declared.
قصف العدو لقطاع غزة وترويع الامنين يأتي في اطار جرائمه و سلوكه الارهابي الذي لا يتوقف ضد شعبنا في كل أماكن تواجده.
لن يستطيع الاحتلال الصهيوني بكل ادوات الارهاب والدعم الامريكي له ، ان يكسر ارادة شعبنا ومقاومته الباسلة ، وسنواصل نضالنا المشروع حتى طرد المحتل من كامل ارضنا
— حازم قاسم (@hazemaq) July 16, 2022
The strikes are also the first since the visit of US President Joe Biden to Israel, who left for Saudi Arabia earlier that day.
Describing the visit of the US head of state, Qassem said it would “only benefit Israel’s interests at the expense of the Palestinian cause.”