Israel declaring war: Palestine gov’t

The ongoing attacks by the Israeli regime on the besieged Gaza Strip are a declaration of war on Palestinians, the Palestinian national unity government says.

Israel’s offensive is a “declaration of war on Palestinians and the Israeli authority alone will bear the consequences,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian national unity government, in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Abu Rudeineh described the Israeli onslaught on the besieged enclave as an “open massacre” of children, women, and the elderly.

Condemning the Israeli aggression, the Palestinian official asserted that, “Palestinians have the right to defend themselves by all legitimate means.”

He lashed out at the international community for its silence toward the Israeli attacks, calling such a position unacceptable.

“Israel’s decision destroys all chances of ceasefire or peace,” Abu Rudeineh said, adding that Palestinian officials will make “fateful decisions” to defend their people.

As many as 28 people have lost their lives in Gaza as the Israeli regime continues its aggression against the coastal sliver. The Israeli army said it had carried out some 50 airstrikes on the coastal strip on Tuesday. Several residential buildings were targeted in the raids.

Palestinian resistance movements in the besieged Gaza Strip have responded to Israel’s aggression by targeting towns and cities deep inside the occupied Palestinian territories.

Tensions heightened between Palestinians and Israelis after the burning alive of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teen, in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) last week. Abu Khdeir’s death came after Israel found the dead bodies of three settlers, whose deaths it blames on Hamas. However, the resistance movement rejects the allegation.