Israel attacks Hamas positions in Gaza
Jerusalem, May 27 : The Israeli Air Force on Saturday attacked Hamas positions in Gaza, in response to an infiltration that took place hours earlier when four Palestinians threw a petrol bomb after crossing the fence into Israel, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said.
The infiltrator also left behind a tent with the message "March of Return: returning to the lands of Palestine", Efe quoted an IDF statement as saying.
Israeli soldiers who arrived at the site fired warning shots and the individuals returned to the Palestinian side of the fence, with no injuries reported.
The army claims that Saturday's incident is one of many attempts at infiltration over the weekend aimed at damaging the fence and security infrastructure and holds Hamas, the de facto ruler of the enclave and considered by Israel, the European Union, the United States and other countries to be a terrorist organisation, responsible for "any threat" emanating from Gaza.
Over the weekend dozens of kites with Molotov cocktails were flown from the Gaza strip, setting fire to Israeli fields.
According to news reports some 300 kites with incendiary devices crossed the divide this month and some 100 fires were started on the Israeli side.
Tension in the area has soared with the Palestinian protests of the Great March of Return and against the move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem on May 14.
The demonstrations -- which began on March 30 -- were scheduled to end on 15 May, the day on which the Palestinians commemorate the Nakba, the catastrophe that for them marked the creation of the State of Israel 70 years ago and the beginning of their dispossession and exile.
However, the Islamist Hamas movement called for continued mobilisation until June 5, the day of the start of the Six Day War in 1967, when the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan Heights began.
The protests continued on Friday, albeit in smaller numbers than in previous weeks, when, according to the IDF, some 5,000 people gathered near the fence, compared to between 30 to 40,000 on the previous Friday. More than 100 people were injured by live fire, rubber bullets and asphyxiation from tear gas, according to Palestinian medical sources.
Since the protests began, at least 116 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers, more than 3,000 have been injured by bullets and, according to Palestinian sources, 6 more have been killed and their bodies are being held by the Israeli army.
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Sambhal violence orchestrated by BJP, govt to divert attention from poll rigging: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district over the survey of a mosque was "orchestrated" by the BJP, the government and the administration "to divert attention from electoral malpractice".
Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals in Sambhal on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Ten people have been detained and a probe was launched into the violence, an official said.
Tension has been brewing in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh bypoll results were declared and the Samajwadi Party managed to win just two seats while the BJP and its ally RLD bagged the other seven, Yadav levelled serious allegations against the police and administration.
"A serious incident occurred in Sambhal. A survey team was deliberately sent in the morning to disrupt discussions about the elections. The intention was to create chaos so that no debate on election issues could happen," the Samajwadi Party chief claimed.
Citing reports, he said several people were injured in the violence in Sambhal and asked when a survey of the mosque was already done, why was a new survey conducted again and "that too in the morning and without preparation?"
"I don't want to go into the legal or procedural aspects, but the other side was not even heard. This was intentionally done to provoke emotions and avoid discussions on election rigging," Yadav said.
"What happened in Sambhal was orchestrated by the BJP, the government and the administration to divert attention from electoral malpractices," the former UP chief minister alleged.
Asserting that in democracy, true victory comes from the people, not the system, he said, "The new democracy created by the BJP ensures that people cannot vote while the system dominates."
He added that whenever an impartial investigation takes place, and the truth comes out through booth recordings and CCTV footage, it will be evident that "voters did not cast their votes and someone else became the voter inside the booth".
Yadav claimed that on the polling day, the police and the administration removed the Samajwadi Party's almost all booth agents and many supporters who wanted to vote.
"If voters were prevented from voting, then who cast the votes? If Samajwadi Party votes didn't reach those booths and our candidate didn't get support, then who voted there? This is a serious issue," he said.
"Additionally, there were two types of slips, -- one with a red mark and another regular slip. We raised this issue on the voting day itself, stating that the administration had created such arrangements, leading to discrimination," Yadav alleged.
The Samajwadi Party's candidate for the Kundarki assembly bypoll Haji Rizwan too has alleged that his supporters were prevented from voting.
The BJP's Ramveer Singh won the bypoll in the Kundarki seat by a margin of over 1.45 lakh votes.
