Gaza: Hamas, the group that rules Gaza, staged a large-scale military drill in the impoverished territory on Sunday.
Hamas detonated bombs, launched missiles and fired machine guns in the streets during the 24-hour exercise.
On Sunday night, air raid sirens sounded across southern Israel, and Israeli regime’s Iron Dome missile defence system launched multiple projectiles into the night sky. Israeli media also reported the occupation regime’s military fired tank shells at targets in the northern Gaza Strip.
An Israeli occupation military spokesman afterward said that no missiles were fired at Israeli territory, and the sirens and Iron Dome missiles were triggered by machine gun fire in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas drill comes amid tensions on Gaza’s border with Israel. The Israeli occupation military bombed a Hamas position in the southern Gaza Strip early Sunday morning.
Hamas is planning a mass protest on the Israel-Gaza border on Friday and urging Gaza residents to gather near the fence and march towards Israeli positions with the intent of crossing into Israel.
Most Palestinians have been split since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, ousting forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who now governs just parts of the West Bank.
Abbas’ government has called on Hamas to disarm and relinquish control of security in Gaza as a condition for Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks to proceed.
