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| Israel bombs Hamas as Gazans step up nighttime rioting along border | |
| 2019-03-24 | |
| [IsraelTimes] Strike comes after explosive hurled at border sets off rocket siren, as ’confusion unit’ threatens to expand night protests. Israeli military aircraft bombed Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, targets in the Gazoo strip early Sunday as Paleostinians rioted along the border in renewed nighttime demonstrations. The strikes came less than an hour after a rocket alarm sounded in some Israeli communities bordering the strip, triggered by an improvised bomb thrown at the border. The Israel Defense Forces said aircraft struck two Hamas reconnaissance posts in response to "the multitude of [explosive] devices that were thrown and went kaboom!during the night." There were no immediate reports of injuries from the strikes. Four Paleostinians were reported injured, including one seriously, by Israeli live fire during the border riots earlier in the night. Nighttime riots in Gazoo have been led by so-called "confusion units" organized by the Hamas terror group, the Strip’s de facto ruler. On Saturday, the unit said it would step up activities, with a week of nightly riots from 7 p.m. until dawn along the border and more airborne incendiary devices launched into Israel. It said the move was in response to the deaths of two Paleostinians shot by troops during border riots Friday. During the nightly demonstrations, participants generally set off loud explosives or sounds grenades, burn tires and throw rocks at Israeli troops on the other side of the security fence. Israeli soldiers typically respond with tear gas and, in some cases, live fire. On Saturday, Israeli military aircraft launched a pair of strikes at Paleostinian cells flying incendiary balloons from the southern Gazoo Strip into Israel, the army said. There are fears that violence will ramp up later this month when Hamas is hoping to draw hundreds of thousands of rioters to the fence Friday to mark a year of so-called March of Return protests. Israel says the demonstrations are orchestrated by Hamas, which vocally supports them, sending free buses to the border and providing food and internet to participants ‐ as well as money for those injured in them ‐ in order to provide a cover for the organization’s nefarious activities along the security fence, including infiltration attempts, the planting of explosives and attacks on Israeli soldiers. Their organizers have said the protests aim to achieve the "return" of Paleostinian refugees and their descendants to lands that are now part of Israel, and pressure the Jewish state to lift its restrictions on the movement of people and goods into and out of the coastal enclave. Israeli officials hold that the return of Paleostinian refugees and their descendants would destroy Israel’s Jewish character. They also maintain that the restrictions on movement are in place to prevent Hamas and other terrorist groups from smuggling weapons into the Strip. The sides are said to be engaged in Egyptian mediated ceasefire talks.
According to local Paleostinian media reports, hundreds of Gazooks took part in the riots in five main locations along the border, setting fire to tires, throwing firecrackers and pointing lasers towards IDF troops deployed along the fence. Some 600 protesters returned to the border area Saturday night. Paleostinian rioters belonging to the "night confusion unit" threw fireworks and explosives at IDF soldiers on the Gazoo border, and launched several barrages of incendiary balloons at southern Israel. Earlier on Saturday, three Palestinians were injured during the night-time riots along the Gaza border fence with Israel, after the IAF struck two Palestinian cells launching explosive aerial devices from the Strip into Israel over the weekend. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |