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The IDF fought back with a series of airstrikes, including fighter planes and helicopters, targeting what the IDF has described as "terrorist targets" in the coastal enclave. Israel says it holds Hamas accountable for what is happening in Gaza.
The heavy escalation follows protests on the border with Gaza earlier in the day. According to the IDF, some 16,000 Palestinians demonstrated on Friday at the border with grenades and incendiary bombs.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, four Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces during the clashes.
The four were named as Muhammad Khaled Mahmoud 'Abd al-Nabi, 27; Nassar Abu Tim, 22; Ahmed Said Abu Libda, 22 years old; and Ayesh Ghassan Shaat, 23 years old. More than 200 people were injured during the clashes, health officials said. among them, 180 were wounded by live ammunition.
Earlier this week, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman pledged to step up the country's response to the ongoing protests.
On Friday, the IDF targeted three Hamas military posts in northern Gaza as part of the evening's escalation.
Israel and Gaza have experienced similar explosions in recent weeks.
A day earlier, a rocket from Gaza landed in southern Israel. In response, the Israeli army struck eight military targets in three Hamas complexes in Gaza, including a training center, ammunition manufacturing sites and a storage site. No one was injured in the strikes.
Last week, a rocket from Gaza hit a house in the southern Israeli town of Beer Sheva, prompting Israel to conduct air strikes against nearly two dozen Hamas targets in Gaza.
In recent weeks, Egypt and the UN have intervened as mediators when fighting erupted, calling on both parties to defuse the situation. Egypt and the UN hope a short-term ceasefire agreement could improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
On Wednesday, Israel has approved the resumption of fuel transfers to Gaza, increasing the amount of electricity available in the coastal enclave, which has only a few hours of power a day. The fuel, funded by Qatar, was intended to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza and reduce tensions that contribute to border protests.
Liberman, Israel's defense minister, has not yet announced he will stop fuel transfers in response to the latest border protest.
