JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel’s military bombed several Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in response to rioting on the border fence that critically wounded an Israeli police officer a day earlier.
“Our forces just struck 4 Hamas weapons and storage manufacturing sites,” Israel’s military said in a statement.
Violence erupted on Saturday when hundreds of Palestinians took part in demonstrations organized by Hamas to protest the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip. Dozens of Palestinians threw rocks and explosives towards Israeli soldiers on the other side of the border while burning tires spewed thick black smoke in the air.
Israel’s military said that rioters approached the border fence and attempted to climb it while throwing explosives at Israeli troops. Israel responded by firing live rounds and tear gas at the Palestinians.
Israel’s military said one of its paramilitary border police identified as 21-year-old Barel Hadaria Shmueli was critically wounded after being shot at point-blank range by rioters.
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In Gaza, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said at least 24 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire. Two of them, including the 13-year-old boy, were in critical condition.
Addressing the Cabinet on Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Israel “will settle the score with those who harm our soldiers and Israeli civilians,” and warned that the military is “ready for any scenario.”
Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies who have fought four wars since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. The latest round of fighting lasted 11 days in May and killed at least 254 people in Gaza, including 67 children and 39 women, according to the Gaza health ministry. Hamas has acknowledged the deaths of 80 terrorists, but Israel claims that number is much higher. Twelve civilians, including two children, were killed in Israel, along with one soldier.
Since May, Israel’s new government has blocked the aid from Qatar, conditioning its arrival on a mechanism ensuring that it will not go to Hamas. Israel also has prevented the import of construction materials into the Gaza Strip while demanding that Hamas first return the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed during the 2014 war, and two civilians believed to be alive.
Angered by this delay, Hamas organized Saturday’s demonstrations to signal its frustration over the lack of Qatari funds.
Israel, however, agreed on Thursday to allow Qatari aid to flow into the Gaza Strip but will oversee it to ensure it goes directly to Palestinian families affected by the May war. Hamas made the call to riot on the border before the agreement was reached.
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