Tensions were high along the Gaza Strip border Friday afternoon, ahead of expected weekly protests and following a night of cross-border violence and amid mounting concerns of another flareup.
UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov met with Hamas leadership in Gaza on Friday in a bid to prevent an escalation of violence.
Border protests were not held last week due to the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, but were expected to resume Friday, though the level of violence during these demonstrations would largely be a decision of the Gaza-ruling Hamas.
Since the last eruption of violence in early May Hamas has largely acted to contain violence at the rallies, but it was not clear whether the terror group intended to continue this policy.
Israeli Air Force jets carried out multiple airstrikes in the Strip early Friday, hours after a rocket hit a religious school in southern Israel. The Israeli military said in a statement that fighter jets and other aircraft attacked “several terror targets, including terror infrastructure in military compounds.”
The strikes came hours after a rocket launched from Gaza slammed into a building housing a religious school, causing damage but no injuries. The rocket, which did not explode, struck the outer face of the yeshiva, sending debris onto the sidewalk. A number of tempered-glass windows were also broken. Most students had gone home for the weekend, but several people were still inside the school at the time.
In light of the increased tensions, the Israel Defense Forces on Friday increased the readiness of its Iron Dome missile defense batteries in southern Israel.
The rocket attacks led to growing calls among politicians for a major military operation, including assassinating leaders of Hamas.
No Palestinian group has taken responsibility for the attacks, but the military generally holds Hamas responsible for any violence emanating from the enclave.
Tensions with Gaza have been steadily rising in recent days, with Israel blocking Gazan fishermen from access to the sea in response to multiple incendiary balloons being launched over the border.
Projectile, which did not explode, causes damage, but no injuries; several people were in the building, but most had gone home for Shabbat
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a Jewish religious school in the southern town of Sderot on Thursday night, causing damage but no injuries, officials said.
It was the second rocket attack aimed at southern Israel from Gaza in less than 24 hours, marking a significant rise in the level of violence from the coastal enclave.
The projectile triggered sirens in the town of Sderot and nearby community of Ivim shortly after 9 p.m.
The rocket struck the outer face of the yeshiva, sending debris onto the sidewalk. A number of tempered-glass windows were also broken.
The rocket did not explode, however. Had it detonated, the devastation would have been far greater.
Most students had gone home for the weekend, but several people were still inside the school at the time of the attack.
Police shut down the area around the school, and sappers were called in to remove the rocket.
In the predawn hours of Thursday, a rocket was fired from Gaza toward the Eshkol region of southern Israel. It was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, the army said, and did not cause injuries or damage.
In response, Israeli aircraft bombed a Hamas underground facility in the southern Gaza Strip.
The attack came hours after Israel announced it was imposing a full naval closure of the Gaza Strip, not allowing local fisherman access to the sea, in response to a wave of arson and explosive attacks from the coastal enclave throughout the day.
At least six fires in southern Israel were blamed on incendiary balloons launched from the Strip on Wednesday, and another balloon with a bomb attached to it exploded over an Israeli town. There were no reports of injuries. The arson attacks caused significant damage to area farmland.
There was a marked decrease in the number of balloon attacks on Thursday.
The arson attacks appeared to be a violation of an unofficial ceasefire reached in early May between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers that ended two days of intense fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian terror groups.
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