Israeli tanks shelled Hamas positions in Gaza early Sunday morning, hours after several rockets were fired at Israel from the enclave.
The IDF said its tanks hit “a number of positions belonging to the Hamas terror group,” in retaliation for the rocket fire, which capped a day that saw four Palestinians killed in protests along the border.
The Shehab news site, affiliated with Hamas, reported that a tank shelled a position east of Deir Balah in the central Strip at around 3 a.m.
There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Israeli officials said earlier that five rockets fired from Gaza landed in open areas in the Eshkol region before 1 a.m. There were no reports of injuries or damage and no claims of responsibility.
The relatively tame response to the rocket fire appeared designed to keep tensions from snowballing amid intensive efforts to broker a long-term calm between the sides, after relatively restrained border protests on Saturday.
Over 40,000 Palestinians took part in rallies at the Gaza border Saturday afternoon to mark a year since the start of the “March of Return” protests, with some rioters throwing grenades and explosives toward the security fence as well as lobbing rocks at troops and burning tires.
The enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry said three 17-year-old Palestinians were killed during the protests, while at least 300 were injured. Another Palestinian was shot and killed in the early morning Saturday before the main demonstration began, reportedly as he approached the border fence during overnight protests.
The army said soldiers responded with “riot dispersal means” and live fire in accordance with IDF regulations, noting that most Palestinians attending the one-year anniversary of the “March of Return” protests remained at a distance from the border.
During the protests Hamas actively worked to keep protesters away from the security fence as part of apparent understandings with Israel.
IDF spokesman Ronen Manelis said Hamas, the terror group that rules Gaza, had “operated with restraint not seen in the past year.”
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