Gaza officials say protester shot with live fire; army warns it will not tolerate attacks on forces patrolling the border
A Palestinian man was killed and several others were injured when protesters clashed with IDF troops near the Israel-Gaza border Tuesday evening, Palestinian officials said.
In the southern Strip, Israeli security forces on Tuesday targeted a Palestinian cell the army said was responsible for sniper attacks on troops patrolling the border fence in recent weeks.
Officials from Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said that 27-year-old Ahmed Sharif al-Sarhi sustained a fatal gunshot wound when IDF soldiers used live ammunition on a group of dozens of protesters gathered at the fence, east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in the center of the Palestinian enclave.
Several dozen protesters also clashed with Israeli forces at the Erez border crossing in northern Gaza. Palestinian media reported three people were injured in al-Bureij and a fourth was hurt at Erez.
Protesters rolled burning tires and threw rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops, and said soldiers used tear gas and fired in the direction of the rioters in order to disperse them, the Hebrew-language daily Haaretz reported.
In southern Gaza, a joint Border Police, IDF and Shin Bet operation targeted the sniper cell believed to be behind attacks on soldiers near the border.
The army said in a statement that it had determined that members of the cell were preparing an assault on Israeli troops, and launched a preemptive attack from across the fence.
“The IDF will not tolerate attempts to harm Israeli citizens and soldiers and will continue to operate against every attempted terror attack on the State of Israel,” the statement read.
Earlier Tuesday, the IDF instructed Israeli farmers who work up within one kilometer of the fence to stay away from the 50-kilometer (30 mile) border, warning of gunfire from Palestinian snipers, the Walla website reported.
Palestinians from Gaza have broken through the border fence with Israel several times in the last two weeks, as well as staged protests in solidarity with West Bank Palestinians who have repeatedly clashed with Israeli troops.
At least 12 Palestinians were reported to have been killed in the recent clashes between Gazan demonstrators and IDF soldiers.
During a visit to the IDF’s Gaza Division Headquarters in the Western Negev earlier that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a security briefing that said the Gaza border was “under control.”
As reported by The Times of Israel