An Egyptian military intelligence delegation will visit the Gaza Strip Sunday and not later this week as originally planned in light of heightened tensions in the coastal enclave, Gaza news outlets reported.
The delegation, which hopes to lower tension between Israel and Gaza against a background of recent cross-border violence, was to enter the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave via the Erez crossing later in the day, the Shehab Agency reported.
Egypt has in the past helped broker unofficial ceasefires between Israel and Hamas.
The development came hours after Israeli jets struck three Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, the Israeli military said, in retaliation for Palestinian terrorists piloting a bomb-carrying drone over the border earlier in the day.
The targets, in northern and central Gaza, included an equipment depot for naval warfare, and two “military centers” for Hamas’s aerial system, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The IDF will continue to act against attempts to harm Israeli citizens, and holds the Palestinian terror group Hamas responsible for everything that takes place in the Gaza Strip, and which emanates from there,” the military said in a statement.
Earlier Saturday, Gaza terrorists piloted an armed drone into Israel, the IDF said. It did not specify if the explosive detonated, but said a military vehicle was lightly damaged in the incident.
The IDF said it opened fire at the cell responsible for the drone. No Israeli soldiers were hurt and there were no immediate reports of Palestinian injuries.
The airstrikes came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas that Israel would respond forcefully to any attempt to harm its citizens and soldiers, following two days of violent incidents on and near the Gaza border.
“Hamas is responsible for all aggression emanating from the Gaza Strip. Any attempt to harm our citizens and our soldiers will be met with a forceful response,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The weekend saw a string of violent incidents along the Gaza border, after several weeks of relative calm.
On Friday night, incoming rockets set off sirens in Israeli communities along the Gaza border. The IDF said it had identified five projectiles that had crossed the border into Israeli territory.
Israeli artillery and aircraft attacked several military targets belonging to the Hamas terror group in the northern Gaza Strip in retaliation, the IDF said.
The exchange of fire came hours after two Palestinian teens were reportedly killed in clashes with Israeli troops along the border, in what the IDF called “especially violent” riots.
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