Israeli helicopters deliver missile Strikes at Gaza

Last night helicopters of the Israeli air forces delivered airstrikes on some facilities in Gaza Strip. The main targets of the strikes were headquarters of the elite Palestinian police unit Detachment-17 and the sea port of Dier al-Balah. According to the preliminary information, 27 Palestinians were wounded. Israelis stressed that this was a retaliatory action to the mortar shelling of the city of Sderot, situated in Negev, in the vicinity of Gaza Strip. On Monday evening, three mortar shells exploded in the city and another two fell not reaching it. Israeli defence minister Benyamin Ben-Eliezer said, in connection with the helicopter attack, that this action is called upon to make Palestinian leadership understand that Israel's tolerance has limits, and the Israeli government is not going to permanently tolerate the terrorist acts being perpetrated in the cities and shellings of the Jewish settlements. At the present time, the Gaza Strip is divided by the Israeli troops into three isolated districts, the roads have been crossed. The city of Gaza itself and also the camp of Palestinian refugees Khan-Junes and Rafiah, which is situated near the border with Egypt, have been completely blocked. Speaking on Tuesday morning on Palestine Voice radio station the commander of Palestinian police units general Abdel Razek al-Majaydeh pointed out that "the strikes of the Zionist aggressor will not break the spirit of the Palestinian people and they will continue their struggle for liberation." It is also reported that in connection with the latest events the regular meeting between representatives of the Israeli and Palestinian security services scheduled for Tuesday evening did not take place.

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