An Israeli police sapper carries part of a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip from the yard of a house in the city of Sderot, southern Israel, Sunday, August 21, 2016.
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Shortly afterward, the military said Israeli aircraft and tanks targeted two posts belonging to the Hamas terrorist group in northern Gaza.
The country’s foreign ministry also released a statement condemning Israel’s attacks which it said “caused injuries to innocent Palestinian civilians” and was “not acceptable regardless of their grounds”. He said the sites were predetermined and it is not known how much damage they caused.
Israel responded quickly with airstrikes and tank fire, and then carried out a second round of airstrikes shortly before midnight.
“We will not keep silent in light of Turkey’s baseless denunciation of us”, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
“On the contrary, we will continue to (defend) the Palestinian cause”, it said, calling Israel’s actions “against global laws and especially against consciences”. “Turkey should think twice before criticizing the military actions of others”, he said.
Hamas congratulated Erdogan on quashing the attempted coup.
It was followed by a massive government crackdown on alleged coup sympathisers which has drawn European Union criticism that it may violate human rights.
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and has observed a de facto ceasefire with Israel since a 2014 war, yet the group has accused the current Israeli administration of ratcheting up tensions.
Since January, 14 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israeli territory, the military said.
Hamas positions have been targeted after a Palestinian rocket attack hit an Israeli border town.
The deal normalized the bilateral relations strained for the past six years, following a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla in 2010 that set out to block the Israeli-imposed blockade on the enclave. A 10th person later died from wounds inflicted. In response, Israel launched an air and artillery assault on Hamas targets in Gaza that continued throughout the night.
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Now the deal was approved, both countries are anticipated to start the process of exchanging ambassadors to completely restore diplomatic ties.
