Israeli PM returns home after violence between Israel and Gaza explodes

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel on Monday, hours after the death of an Israeli army officer and seven Palestinians, including a Hamas commander, following the death of the Israeli army. an incursion of Israeli special forces into the Gaza Strip.

Islamist militant Hamas, who controls Gaza, said Israeli infiltration forces entered the territory in a civilian vehicle Sunday night and exchanged gunfire with Hamas gunmen.

The clashes provoked Israeli air strikes and a volley of rocket fire from Gaza to Israel. An Israeli lieutenant colonel and several Hamas fighters were among the victims.

The cross-border fighting took place just days after Israel and Hamas reached indirect agreements, backed by Qatar and Egypt, to allow money and fuel to flow. 39 to enter Gaza. It was unclear whether the outbreak of violence would derail arrangements to prevent a further deterioration of the situation in Gaza, under the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt since the Hamas takeover in 2007 .

The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al-Qbadam, said that during Sunday's raid, Israeli infiltration forces entered the southeast of Gaza for a distance of about 30 kilometers. about 3 kilometers and killed Nur el-Deen Baraka, an intermediate commander in Khan Younis. Qbadam members discovered the car and pursued it, causing Israeli airstrikes that killed several people, the group said.

The Israeli army said that there had been an exchange of fire during an operation in Gaza, troops withdrawing from the territory with the help of a plane. Activists then launched 17 rockets from Gaza to Israeli communities, where school and train service had been canceled, and that he had beefed up his troops and his air defense system along the border. after the outbreak.

The army provided little details on the reason for the raid. The Israeli army chief, General Gadi Eisenkot, said that a "special force" had conducted "a very significant operation for the security of Israel" without giving further details.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli army, said the operation was not aimed at "killing or abducting terrorists, but at strengthening Israeli security". He added that the force was facing a "very complex battle" and could "filter in its entirety".

Netanyahu returned to Israel on Monday morning for a brief stay in Paris where he was scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron after attending the centenary ceremonies of the end of the First World War.

In a tweet after returning home, Netanyahu congratulated the killed officer, whose identity was kept confidential, and said that "our forces have acted with courage".

The overnight violence took place after several months of clashes along the fence of the Israel-Gaza perimeter. Since the end of March, Hamas has led mbad marches, with a participation rate motivated by growing desperation in Gaza, to try to break the blockade of borders. The blockade has resulted in more than 50% unemployment and chronic power outages, preventing the vast majority of Gazans from traveling.

More than 170 protesters, mostly unarmed, were killed by Israeli army fire during clashes in which some participants threw stones, burned tires or threw grenades at the forces. Israeli.

Israel says it defends its border against infiltrations by militants, but its army is subject to international criticism because of the large number of unarmed protesters who were shot dead.

Last week, Israel allowed Qatar to provide $ 15 million in aid to Hamas' money – ridden leaders. Hamas reacted by reducing the intensity of the demonstration at the border last Friday.

On Sunday, Netanyahu defended his decision to allow the money by Qatar to Gaza in order to avoid a "useless war", to keep calm for the people of southern Israel and to Avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in the impoverished Gaza Strip.

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The editors of Associated Press Fares Akram in Gaza, Gaza, and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.