IDF Attacks Gaza Targets After Riots

IDF attacks in Gaza following riots, incendiary balloons

JERUSALEM POST STAFF 

IDF spokesperson confirmed that IAF warcrafts struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, following violent riots at the border with Israel.

An army base used by Hamas for training and weapon manufacture was targeted, as well as a tunnel near Jabalya, the IDF said in a statement.

The strikes were carried out in response to incendiary balloons that were sent into Israel from Gaza throughout the weekend and over the past several days, causing two fires on Saturday, and due to the violent riots on the border. Some 11 Palestinian protesters have been injured in clashes with the IDF at the sites of the protests, according to Palestinian media.

According to Gazan reports, Palestinians fired machine guns against IAF aircrafts, but the IDF statement did not comment. The reports also claimed that the IAF attacked a Hamas army post in Salah a-Din in the central region of the Gaza Strip using an unmanned aerial vehicle.

"Night Harassment Units" were gathering on its border with Israel at a point on the fence east of Gaza city at 8 p.m., though a relative calm ensued after approximately an hour. The riots reignited around midnight.

Hundreds of rioters gathered at the border, burned tires and threw explosives. IDF forces deployed and in the area responded with riot control munitions and Ruger riot-control sniper rifles, according to the IDF Spokesperson Unit.

The troops were reinforced by special forces and tank units, it added.

At least 11 Palestinians were wounded as of midnight, some seriously, by IDF fire, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.

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IDF strikes Gaza after violent border riots, airborne arson attack

TOI STAFF

The Israel Defense Forces launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late Saturday night in retaliation for airborne arson attacks from the coastal enclave and renewed riots along the border.

The raids on Hamas targets south of Gaza City came hours after two fires were sparked in southern Israel by balloon-borne incendiary devices launched from the Gaza Strip. Hours later, Palestinians resumed clashes with Israeli forces along the Gaza border, as Hamas threatened to step up the cross-border arson attacks from Sunday.

The military said the airstrikes targeted a Hamas military compound used for training and weapon production, and the opening of a “terror tunnel.”

“The IDF will continue to respond forcefully against Hamas’s terror attempts,” the army said, underlining that its raids were in response to both the fires and border violence.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza on Saturday night said 11 Palestinians were wounded in the border clashes with Israeli troops. According to the ministry, three of those wounded were hit by live fire and are in moderate condition. The other eight are said to have been lightly hurt from rubber bullets or shock grenades. It was not immediately clear if the Israeli airstrikes on Saturday night caused injury or damage.

The “night confusion units” behind the border riots do not officially tie themselves to Hamas, though their activities could not take place without the approval of the terror group that rules the Strip.

In the past, Gazans involved in such activities have burned tires, hurled explosive devices, and played fake rocket alert noises in an attempt to confuse Israeli residents living near the border and harass soldiers guarding the border.

The clashes comes despite Israel on Thursday easing some of its restrictions on trade and movement, allowing additional goods and materials to enter Gaza. It also allowed another 1,000 Gazan businessmen to leave through the Erez Crossing with Israel to travel to the West Bank.