Middle East conflict
Unrest again: Israel attacks Hamas post on the Gaza border
Palestinians inspect a damaged building after the Israeli army’s operation. photo
© Majdi Mohammed/AP
On the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is tense. Border crossings were completely sealed off. There are deaths and injuries in Israeli military operations.
After ongoing protests by Palestinians at the border Israel’s military has again attacked several military posts belonging to the Islamist Hamas, which rules there, in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army announced in the evening that the positions were attacked with a drone during violent riots at the security fence. The posts were therefore not far from the protests.
According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, at least six Palestinians were injured by shots fired by Israeli soldiers. Palestinian security sources close to Hamas said that Palestinians had previously thrown several explosive devices at Israeli soldiers stationed at the border. They then responded with live ammunition and rubber bullets.
According to media reports, incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip were sent to Israel for the third day in a row, causing fires there.
Two dead in attack on militant operations center
According to the army, Israeli security forces had previously destroyed an operations center for militant Palestinians in the Palestinian town of Tulkarem. Dozens of explosive devices were also found and neutralized there, it said.
During the operation in the West Bank town, the troops came under fire and fired back. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, two Palestinians aged 21 and 32 were killed. They suffered gunshot wounds to the head. The Islamist Hamas named the younger man as a member of its armed wing. He was killed during the exchange of fire.
The Israeli army said a soldier was moderately injured by shrapnel during the shelling and was taken to a hospital. Among other things, monitoring devices and computers were found in the command center, the army said in a statement. The troops used heavy equipment to find explosive devices hidden under the streets. Many explosive devices exploded.
Meanwhile, eight suspected Palestinian militants were arrested in another operation in the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, students at Birzeit University near Ramallah were planning an attack in the immediate future. It is a Hamas cell that rules the Gaza Strip and is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU, USA and Israel.
Tension before Yom Kippur
There has been daily unrest at the Gaza border for more than a week, fueling fears of a new major conflict. During the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which began this evening and ends tomorrow evening, the border crossings with the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were completely sealed off for security reasons.
More than two million people live in very poor conditions in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the EU, USA and Israel, violently seized sole power in 2007. Israel then tightened a blockade of the coastal area, which Egypt supported.