Status: 08/22/2021 12:34 a.m.
Violent clashes have broken out on the border with the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers are said to have shot at Palestinians who threw incendiary devices. Dozens of people were injured.
Dozens of people were injured in confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at the border fence with the Gaza Strip.
41 Palestinians were injured by live ammunition, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said. A 13-year-old and a 14-year-old were in critical condition. An Israeli border police officer was hit with live ammunition coming from the Gaza Strip, according to the army. His condition is also said to be critical.
Hundreds of Palestinians were in the border area trying to climb over the fence and throw explosive objects at the soldiers. The soldiers responded with measures to disperse protests, including live ammunition, the military said.
The Israeli army reportedly flew air strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to the incidents. Four workshops of the Hamas organization for weapons production were hit.
Protests on the anniversary of the fire at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
The Islamist Hamas ruling in the Gaza Strip called for protests at the border fence on Friday to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the fire at the Al-Aqsa mosque. In 1969 an Australian tourist carried out an arson attack that destroyed parts of the mosque. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam.
In May, Israel and Palestinian militants had an eleven-day armed conflict in which 13 people were killed in Israel according to official figures, and 255 people died in the Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health. On Monday, according to Israeli information, militant Palestinians fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip in the direction of southern Israel. This was the first rocket fire from the coastal area since the armed conflict in May.