Israeli warplanes have attacked a Hamas target in Gaza following a Palestinian rocket strike, the Israeli military said, in the first serious crossborder escalation since a surge in fighting last month.

In a statement on Thursday, Israel‘s military said fighter planes attacked “underground infrastructure” in a compound belonging to the Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip after Israeli air defences intercepted a rocket launched from the besieged territory. There were no reports of injuries or casualties.

The latest hostilities followed Israel’s closure of offshore waters to Gaza fisherman on Wednesday in what it said was a response to incendiary balloons launched across the frontier that caused fires in fields in southern Israel this week.

“Due to the continuous launching of incendiary balloons and kites from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, it has been decided tonight [Wednesday] not to allow access to Gaza’s maritime space until further notice,” the Israeli defence ministry department responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, COGAT, said.

A spokesman for the Israeli fire service said incendiary balloons from Gaza caused seven fires on Tuesday alone. In the past year, Palestinians have succeeded in setting fire to large areas of farmland in southern Israel.

A rocket was launched from Gaza at Israeli civilians last night. It did not reach its target, as it was intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System. We responded to the attack by striking an underground terror infrastructure in a Hamas compound in Gaza.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2019

May violence

In two days of heavy fighting in early May, projectiles from Gaza killed four civilians in Israel, local health officials said. In the same period, Israeli strikes killed 21 Palestinians, over half of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. 

A truce mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations ended that round of violence.

Some two million Palestinians live in Gaza, whose economy has suffered years of Israeli and Egyptian blockades as well as recent foreign aid cuts and sanctions by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’s rival in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel says its blockade is necessary to stop arms reaching Hamas, with which it has fought three wars since the group seized control of Gaza in 2007, two years after Israel withdrew its settlers and troops from the small coastal enclave.

Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza have fought three wars since then.

Uganda has banned public gatherings in western Kasese District as officials attempt to contain an Ebola outbreak which has killed two people in the country days after the virus spread from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Emmanuel Ainebyona, a health ministry spokesman, confirmed the move on Thursday hours after officials declared that a 50-year-old Congolese woman had become the second patient to die of the disease in Uganda.

Her 5-year-old grandson was the first confirmed Ebola death in Uganda. The boy’s 3-year-old brother also is infected and is currently undergoing treatment. 

The three individuals were part of a family group that travelled to DRC to care for a relative, who also died of Ebola, before returning to Uganda.

The infections marked the first confirmed cross-border cases of the virus in the current epidemic, which was previously confined to the eastern DRC’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces after emerging ten months ago. 

More than 2,000 cases have been recorded in the DRC since the start of the outbreak in August, the country’s 10th to date, and more than 1,400 people have died.

An expert World Health Organization committee will convene in the Swiss city of Geneva on Friday to weigh whether to declare the epidemic a global health emergency following its spread into Uganda.

Two previous such meetings decided the outbreak was not yet fit for a declaration of that nature, despite being of “deep concern”.

‘Not under control’

Uganda and the wider East Africa region have been on high alert over Ebola since the start of the epidemic.

In a precautionary move, Uganda has vaccinated some 4,700 health workers in more than 150 facilities with an experimental drug designed to protect them against the virus, which spreads through contact with bodily fluids of those infected, causing haemorrhagic fever with severe vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding.

Among those vaccinated are the members of a rapid response team who have been deployed to Kasese to trace likely cases and vaccinate those who might have come into contact with any people who have contracted the disease.

The vaccine is experimental but is estimated to be 97.5 percent effective and, according to the WHO, may protect a person for up to 12 months.

Experts have long feared it could spread from the eastern DRC to neighbouring countries, with regional insecurity and deep community mistrust hampering emergency responders’ efforts.

More than 100 attacks on treatment centres and health workers in DRC have been recorded since the beginning of this year, according to WHO.

Last week, the United Nations agency warned that a quarter of all cases in the outbreak may be going undetected, with scores of victims dying without having been admitted to Ebola treatment centres.

Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, cautioned the epidemic was “not out of control, but it is certainly not under control”.

The world’s worst epidemic of Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, killed about 11,300 people in West Africa as it raced through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia from 2013 to 2016.

India’s Adani Enterprises on Thursday received the go-ahead to start construction of a controversial coal mine in Australia‘s outback after a state government approved a final permit on groundwater management.

The Carmichael mine has been a lightning rod for climate change concerns in Australia and was seen as a factor in the surprise return to power of the conservative Liberal-National coalition in a national election in May.

First acquired by Adani in 2010, the project is slated to produce 8-10 million tonnes of thermal coal a year and to cost up to $1.5bn, but has been mired in court battles and opposition from green groups.

“We’re ready to start work on the Carmichael Project and deliver the jobs these regions so badly need,” Chief Executive Lucas Dow said in a statement.

The go-ahead comes after Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science said it had approved Adani’s Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan following a rigorous assessment “based on the best available science.”

The approval potentially paves the way for half a dozen new thermal coal mines to come online in Australia by opening up Queensland’s remote Galilee basin with rail infrastructure to the coast 320km away at Abbot Point.

Holders of other coal deposits in the basin include some of Australia’s wealthiest iron ore magnates such as Gina Rinehart, who has a joint venture with India’s GVK Group, and controversial one-term politician Clive Palmer.

‘Bad news’ for environment

Conservation groups expressed disappointment with the decision and vowed to continue fighting the development.

The approval was “bad news” for the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, the Australian Marine Conservation Society said.

“Climate change is the greatest threat to our reef’s future and we cannot risk opening up the Galilee basin for other major coal projects which would heat our oceans and lead to more stress on our beautiful corals,” it said.

The decision comes as other developed nations step up strategies to meet Paris Agreement emissions targets, and as many banks and insurers scale back exposure to coal and to new thermal coal mines in particular.

Demand for coal is falling in the West but remains strong in Asia [File: China Photos/Getty Images]

Thermal coal is mainly used for power generation and is being increasingly replaced by renewable energy sources in the United States and Europe.

But it remains the dominant source of power generation across much of Asia. The International Energy Agency expects coal demand to hold steady through 2023, buttressed by rising consumption from China and India, the likely destination for most of Carmichael’s output.

“You hear a lot about all the reduction in demand in the EU, the US, Australia, but there is still very big demand for coal in the rest of the world, increasing demand in fact,” Abby Macnish, head of investments at TWD Invest, which has about 350 million Australian dollars ($242m) under management, told the Bloomberg news agency. “It’s still the main energy source to produce electricity.”

Australia’s federal and state governments have repeatedly said that the mine must stand on its own merits, and a recent drop in prices for low-grade thermal coal has raised doubts about whether the mine can prove economically feasible.

Adani has scaled back initial plans for a 60 million tonne per year mine and has said that it will self-fund the project, backed by ready buyers in its own Indian power plants and its trading business.

Turkey has already purchased S-400 defence systems from Russia and hopes they will be delivered in July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, an announcement likely to ratchet up tensions with NATO ally Washington.

Turkey and the United States have sparred publicly for months over Ankara’s order for the S-400s, which are not compatible with NATO’s systems.

“Turkey has already bought S-400 defence systems. It is a done deal. I hope these systems will be delivered to our country next month,” Erdogan said.

The purchase has raised eyebrows among Turkey’s NATO allies and provoked anger in Washington, which expected Ankara to opt for the American Patriot air defence system instead.

The Pentagon announced on Friday that if Turkey did not give up on the S-400 system by July 3, Ankara would be blocked from purchasing F-35 fighter jets and Turkish pilots currently training in the US would be expelled.

Turkey plans to buy 100 F-35s from the US.

On Monday, US officials announced that Washington had halted the training of Turkish pilots on F-35 fighters at an airbase in the US state of Arizona.

US acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said last week he had sent a letter to his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar informing him of Washington’s decision to pull Turkey out of the F-35 programme.

‘Spirit of the NATO alliance’

Turkey has criticised the letter from Washington and said it did not live up to the spirit of the NATO alliance. It is working on a response to be sent in the coming days, according to the Turkish defence minister.

Turkey has already bought S-400 defence systems. It is a done deal.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president

The US says Turkey’s acquisition of the Russian system poses a threat to Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 stealth fighters and has warned of potential US sanctions if Ankara presses on with the deal.

Erdogan vowed to seek answers on his country’s “exclusion from F-35 project for reasons that have no rational or legitimate basis”, adding that Turkey was not only a customer but also a programme partner of the F-35 project.

Speaking at a meeting of his AK Party members, Erdogan said: “We will call to account in every platform Turkey being excluded from the F-35 programme for reasons without rationale or legitimacy.”

“We have so far paid $1.250bn,” he said.

Shanahan said on Friday the US offer for the Patriots was “very competitive” but Erdogan said Russia offered a better deal including reasonable pricing and a joint-production promise.

“This is not an attack system but a defence system. Won’t we take necessary measures to defend our country?” he said.

“Did we ask for such a defence system from America? Yes, we did. Did they deliver? No, they didn’t,” he said.

Turkey has repeatedly proposed a joint-working group to assess the impact of the S-400 deal, but Washington has not yet taken up the suggestion.

Erdogan also said he wanted to talk about the issue on the phone with the US before he meets President Donald Trump in Osaka, Japan, at the end of this month.

The Turkish leader said he “would like to discuss this issue by telephone and reverse it from the current situation back to where we started”.

Russia said on Tuesday it planned to deliver its S-400s to Turkey in July.

The Saudi-led coalition said it would “take stern action” to deter the Houthi rebels after the Yemeni rebels carried out a missile attack on Abha airport in Saudi Arabia that left at least 26 injured.

Turki al-Malki, the coalition spokesman, said the missile hit “proves this terrorist militia’s acquisition of new advanced weapons and the continuation of the Iranian regime’s support and waging of cross-border terrorism”.

Houthi rebels, who have faced persistent coalition bombing since March 2015 that has exacted a heavy civilian death toll, have stepped up missile and drone attacks across the border in recent weeks.

In a statement on Wednesday, the coalition said a projectile hit the arrivals hall at Abha airport, causing material damage. Three women and two children were among the wounded, and were of Saudi, Yemeni and Indian nationalities, it said.

Eight people were taken to hospital while most were treated on site.

The attack could amount to a war crime and proved that the Houthis have acquired “advanced weapons from Iran”, the coalition said, vowing to take “urgent and timely” measures in response.

There was no immediate response from Iran, which has denied arming the Houthis.

The European Union said “such provocative attacks pose a threat to regional security and undermine the UN-led political process in Yemen“.

Houthi-affiliated Almasirah TV reported that the Houthi forces launched a cruise missile attack on Abha airport, which is about 200km north of the border with Yemen and serves domestic and regional routes.

The alliance led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi that had been forced out of power by the Houthis.

The airport in the town of Abha in Saudi Arabia’s southwest [Google]

The rebels on Wednesday insisted they had the right to defend themselves in the face of five years of Saudi-led bombing and an air and sea blockade.

“The continuation of the aggression and siege on Yemen for the fifth year, the closure of Sanaa airport and the rejection of a political solution make it inevitable for our people to defend themselves,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said in a statement reported by Almasirah.

‘Eye for an eye attacks’

The Abha attack comes as the Saudi-UAE-led coalition intensified air raids on Houthi positions in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah.

The rebels have also stepped up drone and missile attacks on the kingdom amid tensions between Iran and the United States, Riyadh’s main ally. On Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said Saudi air defence forces intercepted two Houthi drones that targeted Khamis Mushait in the kingdom’s south on Monday. The attack did not cause damage or casualties, the agency reported. 

The rebels said they had targeted the King Khalid airbase near Khamis Mushait.

Last month, the Saudi air force also shot down a bomb-laden drone deployed by Houthi rebels that targeted Jizan airport, close to the southern border with Yemen, the coalition said.

Two oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia were hit by Houthi drones causing minor supply disruptions highlighting an apparent significant leap in the drone capabilities of the Houthis.

Commenting on Wednesday’s missile attack on Abha airport, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Al-Attab said the incident proved the coalition’s goal of destroying Houthi’s missile capabilities had failed, allowing the rebels to hit back.

“The Houthis … are saying these kind of attacks are revenge for Saudi Arabia’s escalation and their attacks on civilian areas over the past four years,” Al-Attab said from the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. 

“They have killed so many civilians; this brutal war has even targeted weddings, funerals, markets and hospitals,” he added.

A Yemeni rebel missile attack on an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia wounded 26 civilians on Wednesday [AFP]

Hussain Bukhati, a pro-Houthi journalist, told Al Jazeera the missile attack was part of a move by the group to target the coalition with “eye-for-an-eye” attacks, adding Houthi forces in Sanaa still had “many surprise” attacks planned.

Bukhati said it was the second time the Houthis had used a cruise missile, the first after the group deployed one last year to hit a nuclear power station being constructed in the UAE.

The uptick in violence comes as a United Nations-led peace push falters despite the rebels’ unilateral withdrawal from the lifeline Red Sea port of Hodeidah last month.

The Yemeni government has accused UN envoy Martin Griffiths of bias towards the rebels despite the Security Council’s expression of renewed support in him on Monday.

The conflict in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, aid agencies say.

It has triggered what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 24.1 million – more than two-thirds of the population – in need of aid.