Hamas warns Israeli air strikes as "dangerous escalation"

The Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday denounced Israel's predawn air strikes in Gaza that killed two Palestinian children as "dangerous escalation."

Hamas said the strikes were aimed at "taking the attention from the Jerusalem uprising," referring to the ongoing wave of tensions between Palestinians and Israelis since October, 2015.

While holding Israel fully responsible for this "escalation and its consequence," Hamas warned Israel "not to test the patience of the resistance," and also called on the international community to stop this "aggression on the Palestinian people."

Security officials in Gaza said Israeli war jets used air-to-ground missiles to strike training posts belonging to the armed wing of Hamas in northern Gaza and one post of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza city before dawn on Saturday.

Ten-year-old Yassin Abu Khoussa was killed in the predawn air strike, while his six-year-old sibling Israa' Abu Khoussa succumbed to her wounds later on Saturday.

Israel carried out the air strikes a few hours after four rockets were launched into southern Israel. No Palestinian factions claimed responsibility for the rockets.

Since the end of the large-scale military offensive waged on the Gaza Strip for 50 days during the summer of 2014, militants have occasionally fired rockets into Israel, with Israel responding each time. Endit