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Israeli aircraft strike Hamas sites in Gaza after border clashes
Israeli aircraft strike Hamas sites in Gaza after border clashes
In response to shooting of Border Police member, jets strike four weapons storage and weapons manufacturing sites belonging to Hamas, the IDF says as Israeli media reports military increases deployment of Iron Dome missile defense batteries and bolsters troops along the Gaza border
Israeli aircraft struck Hamas sites in Gaza late on Saturday, the military said, in an escalation of hostilities after earlier cross-border gunfire seriously injured an Israeli soldier and wounded 41 Palestinians, including two critically.
The injuries came during a Gaza protest organized by the ruling Hamas and other factions in what they said was support of Jerusalem, where Palestinian clashes with Israeli police helped spark an 11-day Israel-Hamas conflict in May.
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the Strip’s heavily fortified border, where some tried to scale the border fence and others threw explosives towards Israeli troops, the Israeli military said.
“IDF troops responded with riot dispersal means, including when necessary live fire,” the military spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.
Among the two Palestinians critically injured was a 13-year-old boy who was shot in the head, Gaza’s health ministry said. It described most of the other injuries as moderate, including gun shots to limbs, backs and abdomens.
Cross-border fire from Gaza seriously wounded an Israeli border police soldier, who is in hospital receiving medical treatment, the military said. There was no claim of responsibility for the Gaza gunfire.
In response to the soldier’s shooting, Israeli “fighter jets have struck four weapons storage and manufacturing sites belonging to” Hamas, the military said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
IDF strikes Gaza late on Saturday after violent clashes along the border
Bracing for more hostilities, the IDF said it had sent additional forces to the Gaza border area. the Israeli media reported the military had increased deployment of its Iron Dome anti-missile system.
The violence follows an announcement by the government, of a resumption of Qatari aid to Gaza, a move seen as bolstering a fragile Egyptian-mediated truce to the May fighting.
