Palestinians gathered near the ruins of an ice factory and mechanical garage destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City.
Sameh Rahmi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- After the conflict wounded dozens of people, Gaza was bombed by Israel.
- Israel claimed to have carried out air strikes on four weapons sites.
- An Israeli office and a 13-year-old Palestinian boy were seriously injured.
After clashes between its army and Palestinian protesters, Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza on Saturday and injured dozens of people, including an Israeli border policeman and a 13-year-old Palestinian boy. They were both seriously injured.
The Israeli military stated that it carried out air strikes on four weapons bases and sent additional troops to strengthen its Gaza division.
The situation has escalated three months after Israel and Hamas, the Islamic ruler of the enclave, reached an armistice agreement after the deadliest battle in years.
The army and Palestinian witnesses said that the Israeli army opened fire on Palestinian protesters gathered near the border wall in Gaza.
A Palestinian gunman opened fire on the Israeli army through an opening in the wall. Crowds of young protesters threw explosives at the wall and tried to cross the wall.
Read | Israeli army kills 4 Palestinians in West Bank conflict-Palestinian official
The Gaza Ministry of Health, which is managed by Hamas, said the injured included a 13-year-old boy who was in critical condition after being shot in the head.
The ministry said in a statement: “41 civilians were injured in various injuries,” Hamas said, and “thousands” of protesters participated.
The Israeli border police said that a 21-year-old sniper was shot and wounded by a Palestinian protester in his squad and was seriously injured.
“His condition is critical and life-threatening,” it said of the injured police officer.
The Israeli police chief Kobi Shabtai vowed in a statement that the force will “continue to take resolute action against those who want to harm us and do our best.”
Defense Secretary Benny Gantz has warned that “These are absolutely extremely serious incidents and there will be a response.”
Soon after his comment, the Israeli Air Force stated on Twitter that its “fighters attacked four weapons manufacturing and storage sites belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization”.
No casualties caused by the strike were reported immediately.
Hamas called for protests on Saturday to commemorate the burning down of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem 52 years ago, the third holiest site in Islam.
The movement said in a statement:
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line, and any attack on it will meet the heroic resistance of our people.
Later on Saturday, Hamas and other groups in Gaza issued a joint statement in which they paid tribute to the heroic youth who clashed with the Israeli army.
The violence was the worst since the ceasefire took effect on May 21.
For 11 days in May, Israel airstrikes Gaza in response to rockets fired from the enclave.
Hamas said it took action after Israeli security forces attacked Al-Aqsa in May.
Since the ceasefire, reconstruction efforts in Gaza have stalled, partly because Israel has imposed a severe blockade on the enclave since Hamas seized power in 2007.
On Thursday, Israel announced that it would allow Qatari funds to be used for poor Palestinians in Gaza. Other restrictions still exist.
The ceasefire that Egypt promoted between Hamas and Israel was largely maintained, despite the outbreak.
Picture | Lebanon fired two rockets at Israel, provoking Israeli retaliation
On Monday, Israel said its “Iron Dome” missile defense system intercepted a rocket launched by Gaza militants into Israel, the first time since the recent battle.
Earlier, four Palestinians were killed in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
In 2018, Gazans began a protest movement demanding an end to the Israeli blockade and demanding that Palestinians have the right to return to the land they fled after the establishment of the Jewish state.
Since Israel killed about 350 Palestinians in Gaza in more than a year, the weekly demonstrations supported by Hamas were usually violent, but it broke down.
