Israeli army attacks several Hamas posts in Gaza in response to disturbances at the border fence
The Israeli army attacked several Hamas military posts in Gaza on Sunday in response to firebombs and disturbances at the border fence, a military statement said.
"This Sunday, incendiary and explosive balloons were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel. In addition, this afternoon, dozens of demonstrators instigated riots along the security fence of the strip," the military statement said. "In response, recently, IDF tanks attacked a number of military observation posts belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza," the letter adds.
The tank fire follows another violent incident in Bethlehem, when Israeli troops fired on a suspect who was attempting to launch a Molotov cocktail near Rachel's Tomb in occupied Palestinian territory. This is the sixth consecutive night of armed clashes in Gaza, after a week of firebombing that has burned hundreds of hectares of Israeli territory.
Over the weekend, young Palestinians, members of so-called "Night Riot Units", demonstrated in the border area, burning tires and throwing explosives and Molotov cocktails at the border fence. The demonstrators demanded that Israel lift the blockade on the strip, which was imposed when the Islamist movement Hamas took power there in 2007, that the conditions for the Egyptian-Qatari-brokered ceasefire be met and that humanitarian projects be allowed to proceed in the enclave, whose economy has collapsed after 13 years of siege.
In addition to the night-time bombings, in response to the tension Israel has banned fishing in the waters of the strip, closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the only entrance for commercial goods, and stopped fuel shipments, leading to the announcement by the enclave's sole power plant that it will stop operating on Tuesday and that the population will again suffer power cuts of up to 12 hours. An Egyptian intelligence delegation arrived in Gaza on Sunday to try to calm the situation and help defuse the tension in the area.