PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas chaired a high-level meeting with some top defence officials on Saturday and said that the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against the “terror of settlers and occupation troops”, the official news agency WAFA quoted him as saying. In the emergency meeting, President Abbas directed officials “to provide protection for the Palestinian people and provide all that is necessary to bolster the resilience and steadfastness of the Palestinian people in facing the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation and settler gangs”, WAFA reported.

 

As per the WAFA news agency, he also gave directions to provide all that is necessary to bolster the resilience and steadfastness of the Palestinian people in facing the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation and settler gangs. Meanwhile, Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approved the draft of reserve soldiers in accordance with the Israel Defence Force’s requirements.

 

He further announced a “special security situation” in Israel’s Homefront, within a 0-80 km radius of the Gaza Strip, ‘The Jerusalem Post’ reported, adding that this further enabled the IDF to provide civilians with safety instructions at “close and relevant sites”. The daily reported earlier that after a barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, Hamas fighters infiltrated Israel. Following the attack, red alert warning sirens were activated in Tel Aviv, located around 70 kilometres from the Gaza Strip, as well as, Sde Boker, Arad, and Dimona in the south.