Israeli Military Strikes Gaza After Border Violence

Tire smoke lit by Palestinian demonstrators (AP)
Tire smoke lit by Palestinian demonstrators (AP)
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Israeli Military Strikes Gaza After Border Violence

Tire smoke lit by Palestinian demonstrators (AP)
Tire smoke lit by Palestinian demonstrators (AP)

The Israeli military said it launched an air strike on Gaza Friday, following violence at a border rally in which health officials said multiple Palestinians were wounded.

The strike was the first since early July, when Israel responded to rocket fire from Gaza launched after its deadliest Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank in years.

The army said it hit "a military post belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the northern Gaza Strip."

A military spokesman said the air strike hit an area where Palestinians had gathered earlier Friday, near the permanently closed Karni crossing.

A security source in the Palestinian territory told AFP that Israel "bombed a resistance observation post east of Gaza City," requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly to the media.

There were no immediate reports of injuries resulting from the air strike.

Earlier Friday, an AFP journalist at the protest saw Palestinians throwing rocks and explosives towards Israeli forces, across the frontier, and two demonstrators with gunshot wounds.

Plumes of black smoke filled the area after Palestinians set tyres ablaze.

Twelve Gazans were wounded at various rallies along the border, the territory's health ministry said.

The Israeli military said "several explosive devices and grenades" were hurled at soldiers, none of whom were hurt.

The air strike comes after an explosion killed at least five Gazans during a border rally on Wednesday.

A bomb which may have been a hand grenade detonated while being carried by a protester, a witness told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Militant Hamas group seized control of Gaza in 2007 and Israel has since imposed a crippling blockade.

There have been multiple wars fought between Gaza-based militants and Israel in recent years.

At least 34 Palestinians and one Israeli were killed in five days of cross-border exchanges in May.



Israel Orders More Evacuations in Central Gaza

A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
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Israel Orders More Evacuations in Central Gaza

A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)
A Palestinian boy plays among the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 04 October 2024. (EPA)

The Israeli military on Saturday warned residents in parts of central Gaza to evacuate, saying its forces will soon operate there in response to Palestinian fighters.

The warnings cover areas along a strategic corridor in central Gaza, which was at the heart of obstacles to a ceasefire deal earlier this summer.

The military warned Palestinians in areas of Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps, located along the Netzarim corridor, to evacuate to the area the military designated a humanitarian zone, an area called Muwasi along Gaza’s shore.

It’s unclear how many Palestinians are currently living in this area, parts of which were evacuated previously.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to heavily destroyed areas of Gaza where they had fought earlier battles against Hamas and other fighters since the start of war one year ago.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people has been displaced in the war, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps.

Others have remained in their homes despite being ordered to leave, saying nowhere in the isolated coastal territory feels safe.

At least 41,825 Palestinians have been killed and 96,910 wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the enclave's health authorities said on Saturday.