Israel hits Gaza with air strikes as tensions escalate | Gaza News

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A blast could be heard in Gaza City on Friday where smoke poured out of the seventh floor of a tall building.

Israel says it is attacking Gaza with warplanes and declared a “special situation” on the home front after days of tensions with the Palestinians.

The friction follows the arrest of a senior Palestinian leader in the occupied West Bank.

A blast could be heard in Gaza City on Friday, where smoke poured out of the seventh floor of a tall building.

“The IDF [Israel Defense Force] is currently striking in the Gaza Strip. A special situation has been declared on the Israeli home front,” the military said in a statement. It said further details would follow.

Israel closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a response after the arrest of a senior member of the Islamic Jihad group in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

It was not immediately clear what Israel was targeting or how much the situation would escalate.

Israel and Hamas, which governs Gaza, have fought four wars and engaged in several smaller skirmishes over the past 15 years.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz visited communities near Gaza on Friday, saying authorities were preparing “actions that will remove the threat from this region”, without elaborating.

“We will operate with internal resilience and external strength in order to restore routine life in Israel’s south,” he said, “We do not seek conflict, yet we will not hesitate to defend our citizens, if required.”

More to come …