Israel: The Israel Defense Forces struck three Hamas military positions in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening using drones, tanks and helicopters, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
The strike by a drone came in response to a firebombing of an IDF military post that set it alight. The Molotov cocktail attack occurred during a riot near Rafah, which the IDF said was a hotspot for border violence. The Hamas post hit in the drone strike was nearby.
The Israeli army said that it used a drone, helicopter and tank to strike multiple posts in northern and southern Gaza belonging to the Strip’s Hamas rulers in response to what it described as “violent riots” at the security fence between Gaza and Israel.
The protests involve Palestinians throwing stones and explosive devices, burning tires and, according to the Israeli military, shooting at Israeli soldiers.
Hamas, the terror group that seized control of Gaza in 2007, has said that young Palestinians have organized the protests in response to surging violence in the West Bank and alleged provocations in Jerusalem.
In recent days, Palestinians have also floated incendiary kites and balloons across the border into southern Israel, setting fire to farmland and unnerving Israeli civilian communities close to Gaza.
The unrest first erupted earlier this month, shortly after Hamas’ Finance Ministry announced it was slashing the salaries of civil servants by more than half, deepening a financial crisis in the enclave that has staggered under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade for the past 16 years.
