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YOUSEF ALHELOU: Israeli warplanes bombed the Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, causing damage
but no injuries, in the first airstrike on the seaside territory since a November ceasefire.
The two air raids were the first since Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire on November
21 under Egyptian mediation to end an eight-day war on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military
said the two attacks were in response to rocket fire from the tiny enclave.
On Tuesday, Gaza militants fired a number of retaliatory projectiles into southern Israel
after the death of a Palestinian political prisoner who suffered from cancer and died
in Israeli custody.
Haidar Eid, a political analyst, told The Real News that through the latest Israeli
escalation, Israel is trying the shift the attention on the death of Maisara Abu Hamdeyyah,
whose death sparked outrage across the occupied Palestinian territories.
HIDAR EID: Israel has been violating the ceasefire since November 2012, and Israel wants to shift
the attention of the international community from the plight of Palestinian prisoners in
Israeli jails to the military escalation on the borders with Gaza.
ALHELOU: Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket fire, the
Israeli military said it holds Hamas-ruled Gaza responsible for any attack against the
Jewish state.
For its part, Hamas issued a statement saying that Israel's airstrikes were a clear violation
of the ceasefire and called on Egypt, which brokered the ceasefire, to intervene immediately
to end the Israeli escalation and the violations against the Palestinian prisoners.
The Real News talked to the spokesperson of Al-Ahrar movement, which is known to be close
to Hamas, who said that his movement is coordinating with other resistance groups in Gaza to decide
their response in case the situation escalates
ABU MOHAMMAD: The death of Abu Hamdeyyah, and Israeli violations and attacks against
our people and our prisoners, are new crimes added to the long list of crimes committed
by the Israeli enemy against the Palestinian people. And if these violations continue,
then we will retaliate and the enemy should bear the consequences.
ALHELOU: This military escalation occurred as Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
were protesting following the death of 64-year-old Maisara Abu Hamdeyyah, a political prisoner
from the West Bank city of Hebron, who had been suffering from throat cancer and was
serving a life sentence.
NASHAT AL-WAHIDI: People from all walks of life participated in this demonstration that
took place in front of the UN office in Gaza City to demand the United Nations and all
international human rights organizations to hold their responsibilities, to ensure that
our Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails get the needed medical care, and to work immediately
to free all the detainees and prisoners who suffer from chronic diseases.
ALHELOU: Maisara Abu Hamdeyyah was the second Palestinian political prisoner to have died
in Israeli captivity so far this year.
In February, Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old Palestinian prisoner, died in Megiddo Prison.
His inmates said his death was the result of torture while in prison at the hands of
Israeli security forces.
Some Palestinian officials say that the latest developments following Abu Hamdeyya's death
could spur further unrest across the occupied territories, particularly in light of the
fact that it occurred less than two weeks before Palestinian Prisoners Day, which has
become an annual event that is marked on April 17.
HAMDI SHAQQOURA: Palestinian prisoners are subjected to ill treatment. They are subjected
to all illegal methods including torture. They are subjected to deteriorating health
conditions. Abu Hamdeyyah is not the only case. A few weeks ago another Palestinian
prisoner died, and we have great concerns that he died as a result of torture. In the
case of Abu Hamdeyya he died as a result of cancer, but for many months we have been demanding
Israeli authorities to release Abu Hamdeyyah on a humanitarian background to offer him
proper medical treatment.
According to previous and former experiences with the current truce and with the truce
system in particular, I'm afraid that this is a beginning of a new round of escalations
against Gaza Strip. This is not new for Israel. They start by a few strikes here and there,
then provocation will start again, and then we will end up with major large-scale attack
on the Gaza strip.
ALHELOU: Last year, 1,200 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons declared a hunger
strike to protest the poor imprisonment conditions and administrative detention, a military procedure
which allows detainees to be held without trial or charge.
After decades of conflict with Israel, the issue of Palestinian prisoners is emotionally
charged in Palestinian society. And with the latest military escalation, it seems the fragile
truce will hold for some time before it collapses.
Yousef Alhelou reporting for The Real News, Gaza.