Dozens of mortars fired from Gaza into Israel in heaviest barrage since 2014 war

Dozens of mortars and rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel early on Tuesday morning, in the most serious such barrage since the end of the 2014 Gaza conflict.  The Israeli military said 27 projectiles were fired out of Gaza at around 7am local time. No one was injured in the barrage but one shell fell into the yard of a kindergarten.  “This was the biggest barrage since 2014,” said Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman.  “One of the mortars fell in the yard of a kindergarten but luckily no children were hurt. This was definitely aimed at the time children were going to school and people were going to work.” The Israeli military said most of the projectiles were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system.  Immediate suspicion for the attack fell on Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant faction which operates inside Gaza and is tolerated by Hamas, the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip.  Three Islamic Jihad fighters were killed by Israeli forces on Saturday Credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Three Islamic Jihad fighters were killed on Sunday by Israeli tank fire. Israeli forces opened fire on the group in response to a bomb planted by the Gaza border fence.  Islamic Jihad had vowed to exact revenge for the killings.  Israel has a policy of holding Hamas responsible for any attacks coming out of Gaza, regardless of which group actually did the shooting.  The Israeli military is expected to carry out a wave of airstrikes in Gaza in response to the mortars.  The barrage comes after weeks of heightened tensions in Gaza.  Israeli forces have killed more than 100 Palestinians since late March during protests at the Gaza border fence.  The majority of those killed have been unarmed although Israeli troops have faced gun and bomb attacks on the border.  Hamas and other factions have refrained from firing rockets into Israel since February but there has been a spike in shooting in recent days. On Monday night, heavy machine gun fire from Gaza hit a house in the Israeli town of Sderot. Another house in Sderot was hit by gunfire two weeks earlier.  Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was expected to hold emergency consultations with military leaders in response to the barrage.  Emanuele Giaufret, the EU ambassador to Israel, condemned the attack as "totally unacceptable".  As kids were preparing for school this morning a barrage of rockets from Gaza fell on southern Israel. One landed outside a kindergarten. I know the resilience of communities in southern Israel but indiscriminate attacks are totally unacceptable and to be condemned unreservedly.— Emanuele Giaufret (@EGiaufretEU) May 29, 2018  

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