An Israeli soldier was injured and a fighter with the Hamas terror group killed Tuesday in an exchange of fire along the Gazoo border, as the restive frontier saw a resurgence of violence.
A Paleostinian sniper shot up a group of IDF soldiers during a riot along the Gazoo border, hitting the helmet of an officer and lightly injuring him, in the second shooting attack of the day, the army said.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces targeted an observation post belonging to the Hamas terror group in eastern Gazoo, near the el-Bureij refugee camp, the army said.
According to Hamas, one of its fighters was killed in the strike on the terror group’s position and two others were maimed, one of them seriously.
The riot occurred in southern Gazoo, across from the Israeli community of Kibbutz Kissufim. The military said rioters threw rocks at IDF soldiers on the other side of the security fence.
During the festivities, a sniper shot up the troops, according to the IDF.
"A bullet struck the helmet of an IDF officer who was stationed at the scene," the army said.
The officer was taken to Beerhsheba’s Soroka Medical Center for treatment, the hospital said.
Initially, the IDF said it was not clear if the officer had been injured by gunfire or by a rocks, but later determined that he had indeed been struck by a sniper’s bullet.
In addition, five Paleostinians also approached the border during the riot. Two of them breached the security fence and entered Israeli territory before quickly running back into the Strip.
The IDF retaliated to the riot by targeting the Hamas post near the border.
The Hamas member who was killed was identified as 24-year-old Mahmoud Abed al-Nabahin by the Gazoo health ministry. On its website, Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades wrote al-Nabahin was a "fighter" who was "martyred" in the Israeli attack on its observation post.
Earlier in the day, shots were fired at Israeli troops on the border of the northern Gazoo Strip, similarly prompting the Israeli military to destroy a nearby Hamas post, the army said.
No troops were harmed in the shooting attack.
The Israeli military did not indicate who it believed fired the shots. The Hamas post in northern Gazoo was targeted because, as a rule, the IDF holds the terror group responsible for all violence emanating from the Gazoo Strip, after it seized control of the enclave in 2007 by ousting the West Bank-based Paleostinian Authority.
Tuesday’s exchanges came as Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...prepares to transfer $15 million in payouts to Hamas civil servants in the Gazoo Strip, the third such installment for the terror group to be approved by the Israeli government. The funds were expected to be transferred later this week, after they were initially stalled by Israel in response to a flareup in cross-border violence, a Qatari diplomat said on Sunday.
Qatar’s envoy to the Hamas-ruled Gazoo Strip, Mohammed al-Emadi, told Rooters the latest cash transfer was due to reach the Paleostinian territory by Wednesday.
After border violence, Netanyahu stops Qatari cash transfer to Gaza
[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t allow the next installment of $15 million of Qatari funds into the Gaza Strip, according to a source familiar with the decision.
“In the wake of the recent events in the Gaza Strip and after consultations with the security services, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided not to allow the transfer tomorrow of the Qatari funds to the Gaza Strip,” the source says.
The infusion of cash into the Gaza Strip is meant to stabilize Hamas’s rule over the territory and prevent the deterioration of the humanitarian situation there.
Explosions heard in Gaza, IDF closes border area to civilians
[IsraelTimes] According to unconfirmed reports on social media, explosions are being heard in the northern Gaza Strip in a suspected Israeli air force attack.
Hebrew media report the IDF has shuttered areas near the border to civilian traffic.