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Gaza (Palestinian Territories) – Four Palestinians, including three "fighters" of the Islamist Hamas movement, were killed on Friday by the Israeli army, which carried out intense bombing in this Palestinian enclave in response, she said, to "gunfire" against his soldiers near the border.
This bout of fever comes at a time when new demonstrations took place at Israel's security fence in Gaza to protest Israel's blockade of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory.
Aircraft and tanks bombed " military targets throughout the Gaza Strip " in response to " firing " targeting Israeli troops near the border, said the Israeli army.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that two Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops near Khan Younes in the southern Gaza Strip. Security sources said they died in an attack on a Hamas observation post.
A third Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces in Rafah, also in the southern Gaza Strip, the ministry said.
The military wing of Hamas said in a statement that these three Palestinians were " combatants " members of this organization.
A fourth Palestinian was killed by Israeli soldiers near the border area east of Gaza City, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.
Shooting against Israeli soldiers took place during " violent riots along the security fence ," which marks the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the army said.
Since March 30, Palestinians have been demonstrating regularly in the border area to denounce the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza and demand the return of the Palestinian refugees who were expelled or who fled from their lands in 1948 when the state of Israel was created. 'Israel.
At least 149 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army and more than 4,000 have been shot since that date. No Israeli was killed.
But Israel is particularly angry at recent kites and incendiary balloons launched by some protesters from Gaza who have fired, according to him, more than 2,600 hectares in Israeli territory, according to the Jewish state. In recent days, the Israeli army has opened fire at groups launching such devices.
– War Threats –
Last weekend, Israel and Hamas had their biggest confrontation since the war that pitted them in 2014.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has multiplied in recent days the threat of a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip if Hamas did not stop the launch of kites or incendiary balloons.
Israel and Hamas have clashed in three wars since 2008 that devastated this enclave, which is now experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis.
Israeli television broadcast this week footage of army maneuvers training for a land incursion into the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also conducted an inspection tour this week in the border region for the first time since the start of the clashes.
Government members such as Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Homeland Security Minister Gilad Erdan advocated systematically attacking kite throwers as " terrorists ".
– Reinforced Blockade –
In response to these fiery kites and balloons, Israel further reinforced this week the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Defense Ministry suspended oil and gas deliveries via Kerem Shalom until Sunday, the only crossing point for goods between Israel and the Palestinian territory.
Last week, Israel had already announced the closure of this crossing point for a number of goods, Hamas which controls the Palestinian enclave denouncing a " crime against humanity ".
Israel has also reduced the sea area open to fishermen in Gaza.
For more than a decade, the Gaza Strip, wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean, has been subjected to a strict Israeli land, sea and air blockade.
The strengthening of the blockade intensifies pressure on Hamas in a territory where some 80 percent of the two million people depend on aid, according to the World Bank.
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