israel raided Gaza to sabotage Palestine unity government

A political analyst says Israel’s relentless onslaught against the Gaza Strip is aimed at undermining the recently formed Palestinian national unity government, Press TV reports.

In an interview with Press TV on Saturday, Sharif Nashashibi said Israel used the alleged abduction of three Israeli settlers as a pretext to launch an offensive against the Gaza Strip with the aim of undermining the Palestinian national unity government.

“Israel’s target was the national unity government from the beginning when the Israeli teenagers were abducted,” Nashashibi said, adding, “There was no doubt it (Israel) was going to do anything it could and use anything as a pretext to destroy the national unity government.”

Israel accused Hamas of kidnapping and killing three settlers that went missing early last month. During the so-called search operation for the settlers, Israeli forces killed several Palestinians and raided a number of homes.

Hamas, meanwhile, consistently rejected the claim, saying Tel Aviv seeks to sabotage the recent reconciliation accord reached between the movement and Fatah, which led to the formation of the Palestinian national unity government.

On July 8, shortly after the discovery of the bodies of the settlers, Israel launched an offensive against the besieged Gaza Strip.

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on Gaza has risen to more than 342. About a third of the fatalities have been women and children. Nearly 2,500 others have been also injured.

The Israeli regime also launched a ground invasion of the blockaded enclave late on Thursday.

Israel had called up 48,000 reserve soldiers for the ground operation and the military said later on Thursday that an additional 18,000 reservists have been also called up to bolster the 48,000 already summoned.