GAZA CITY // Israel pounded Hamas targets in Gaza with air strikes and tank shells Saturday, killing four militants, Palestinian officials said, as Palestinian missiles reached deeper into Israel in the most intense round of fighting since the Gaza war.
In all, 18 Gazans have been killed and more than 65 wounded since Israel unleashed the strikes following a Hamas attack on an Israeli school bus Thursday. An anti-tank rocket struck the bus, seriously wounding a 16-year-old boy and injuring the driver.
After Israel's devastating military offensive in the winter of 2008-2009, Gaza's Hamas rulers had largely observed a cease-fire, and it was not immediately clear why the Islamic militants chose to end their relative restraint. Israel, in turn, has pledged to strike back hard for the bus attack, in an attempt to restore the deterrence created by the Gaza war.
Early Saturday, an Israeli airstrike struck a car near Rafah in southern Gaza, killing three Hamas militants. Hamas said one of its top commanders, 29-year-old Tayser Abu Snima, and two of his assistants were killed.
Later, Hamas said a tank shell killed another militant near the Jabalya neighborhood in Gaza. The Israeli military said it was not aware of a strike involving a tank shell.
Overall, the Palestinian death toll since Thursday includes 11 militants, a Hamas policeman and six civilians.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired more than 15 missiles into Israel Saturday. The rockets reached the vicinity of the Israeli cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheba. The military confirmed that its newly deployed Iron Dome defense system knocked some of them down. No Israelis were wounded in the attacks.
Reinforced rooms and early warning systems also have helped keep Israeli casualties low.
The interception of missiles in recent days mark a defense coup for Israel. Iron Dome is the first system worldwide to knock down missiles at such altitude and trajectory.
Israel has said it would hit back hard for the bus attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the attack on the school bus "crossed a line" and warned that "whoever tries to harm and murder children will pay with their life."
Most of the schoolchildren on the bus had gotten off shortly before the attack. Had the attack caused a significant death toll, the Israeli response would surely have been more severe, perhaps even leading to another major Israeli offensive.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Saturday that the group's attacks were still "limited and controlled" but that continued Israeli strikes may force it to escalate in response. He said that Israel was trying to break the control of Hamas in Gaza.
"The occupation government is responsible for this escalation," he told reporters in Gaza. "We want to make a clear point that we shall not allow them to achieve their goals and they must know that they will fail to force the Palestinians to give up."
Hamas has said the bus attack was in retaliation for the killing of three fighters in an airstrike earlier in the week.
It is not clear whether Hamas was trying to provoke a new conflagration with that attack, if it was not fully in control of all of its fighters, or if it believes Israel would pull back before invading Gaza again. Israel was condemned internationally after the Gaza war.
Thousands of rockets from Gaza have hit Israeli towns and cities since 2001. Israel's attempts to stop the rockets have included military incursions and covert operations abroad aimed at disrupting Hamas' efforts to procure arms.
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
WHAT FANS WILL LOVE ABOUT RUSSIA
FANS WILL LOVE
Uber is ridiculously cheap and, as Diego Saez discovered, mush safer. A 45-minute taxi from Pulova airport to Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospect can cost as little as 500 roubles (Dh30).
FANS WILL LOATHE
Uber policy in Russia is that they can start the fare as soon as they arrive at the pick-up point — and oftentimes they start it even before arriving, or worse never arrive yet charge you anyway.
FANS WILL LOVE
It’s amazing how active Russians are on social media and your accounts will surge should you post while in the country. Throw in a few Cyrillic hashtags and watch your account numbers rocket.
FANS WILL LOATHE
With cold soups, bland dumplings and dried fish, Russian cuisine is not to everybody’s tastebuds. Fortunately, there are plenty Georgian restaurants to choose from, which are both excellent and economical.
FANS WILL LOVE
The World Cup will take place during St Petersburg's White Nights Festival, which means perpetual daylight in a city that genuinely never sleeps. (Think toddlers walking the streets with their grandmothers at 4am.)
FANS WILL LOATHE
The walk from Krestovsky Ostrov metro station to Saint Petersburg Arena on a rainy day makes you wonder why some of the $1.7 billion was not spent on a weather-protected walkway.
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
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AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
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Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
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