Israel strikes Gaza again amid Palestinian border protests

AFP , Saturday 23 Sep 2023

The Israeli occupation army launched a drone strike on the Gaza Strip on Saturday after three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the latest episode of border protests, sources on both sides said.

Palestine border protests
Palestinian demonstrators move away from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during border protests east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip near the Israel-Gaza border fence on September 23, 2023. AFP

 

The early evening strike is one of a series that have come amid near-daily protests at the border by Palestinians after Israel closed the Erez crossing from Gaza.

A Palestinian security source told AFP that an "Israeli aircraft had targeted a Hamas surveillance site east of Gaza City", without mentioning any casualties.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian demonstrators were attacked by Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence.

Three Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Israel has imposed an air, land and sea blockade on the impoverished Palestinian enclave ever since the Islamist group Hamas seized control in 2007.

Thousands of Palestinian workers from Gaza have been prevented from entering Israel by the closure of the Erez crossing, which an Israeli NGO, Gisha, condemned as "collective punishment".

Israel has issued work permits to some 18,500 Gazans, COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, said on Tuesday.

Since September 13, six Palestinians have been killed and nearly 100 wounded during violence at the border, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza.

Armed conflict sporadically erupts between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.

In May, an exchange of Israeli air strikes and Gaza rocket fire resulted in the deaths of 34 Palestinians and one Israeli.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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