Hamas says holding contacts to halt Israeli attacks

Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Tuesday it was holding urgent contacts with a view to halting the Israeli military escalation in the Gaza Strip.

“These contacts aim at halting the Zionist (Israeli) escalation and its continuing aggression on our people in the Gaza,” senior Hamas member Izzat al-Rishq said on Twitter.

He, however, did not provide further details about these contacts.

At least five Palestinians were martyred in renewed Israeli attacks in Gaza on Tuesday and Monday following rocket fire from the seaside territory. The Israeli army said more than 20 people were injured by rocket fire.

The Israeli attacks came one day after seven Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in an undercover Israeli operation in the blockaded enclave.

Since March, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire during protests demanding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral home in what is now Israel.