BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2021) German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated that Israel has been exercising its right to protect the population from rocket attacks launched by Hamas, German Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday.
According to Maas, Israel has the right to self-defense and to protect its people from Hamas "rocket terror," Bild am Sonntag said. The minister stressed that the next step should be to put an end to the violence and return to the negotiations on building trust between Israel and Palestine in order to find a solution based on the coexistence of the two states.
As of Saturday evening, 2,800 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, about 430 of which fell inside the enclave, the Israel Defense Forces reported. Several civilians and at least one soldier were killed in Israel in the rocket attacks.
Israel has retaliated with hundreds of attacks on the alleged Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes has reached 145, including 41 children.
The UN Security Council has agreed to hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Palestine in the Gaza Strip.
