IAF strikes Hamas targets in retaliation for IEDs on Gaza border
Palestinians say Israel attacked farmland east of the Zaytun Quarter in Gaza City and two Hamas military posts; there have been no reports of injuries or damage in Gaza; airstrike comes in response to explosive planted on border fence that went off Saturday afternoon.
Palestinian sources reported the targets included farmland east of the Zaytun Quarter in Gaza City and two Hamas military posts. There have been no reports of injuries or damage in Gaza.
"The IDF will continue acting to ensure the security of Israel's citizens with all means at its disposal. The Hamas terror organization is responsible for everything that happens inside the Gaza Strip and coming out of it," the IDF Spokesman's Office said after the strike.
"The continued Israeli escalation against the Gaza Strip and the targeting of resistance targets are unprecedented steps meant to shuffle the cards, scare us and sabotage the big March of Return. It will never succeed," Hamas said in response to the airstrikes. "It would only push our people to continue resisting and demanding their rights, first and foremost the right of return and the lifting of the siege over Gaza. If the enemy thinks this escalation would help it achieve its goals, it is dreaming and doesn't know the character of this people. Israel is the one who bears the responsibility for the escalation and the harm to people's lives."
An improvised explosive device (IED) blew up near the Gaza fence on the northern part of the strip's border on Saturday afternoon. No one was hurt.
This is the same area in which two explosive devices detonated Thursday morning. Saturday's incident marked the fifth time in three months a device was detonated near the Gaza fence.
Palestinian sources reported on Saturday that a short time after the IED went off, the IDF fired several tank shells at a target east of Shuja'iyya, which may have been an observation post—conjecture later corroborated in an official IDF statement.
The IDF released a statement saying, "An explosive device detonated near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip. No forces were in the vicinity at the time of the explosion. No damage or casualties were caused to our forces."
Several explosives detonated near the Gaza border fence in the northern strip Thursday, intended to target security forces. No Israeli forces were harmed. In retaliation, the IDF used tank and aircraft fire to target Hamas terror targets east of Jabalia.
According to Palestinian sources, two other observation posts and an outpost in the northern strip were hit, and no Palestinian casualties were reported.
Between three and four charges were detonated in close proximity to an IDF force patrolling the region, which was nevertheless some distance away from the explosion. The military's vehicles were not damaged.
The incident occurred near a point in the border where hundreds of Palestinians demonstrate every weekend, between the Gaza neighborhood of Shuja'iyya and the Nahal Oz kibbutz.
The area near the fence was declared a close military zone to expedite the dismantling of the devices, with the IDF now inspecting whether charges were once again placed under the cover of weekly protests.
