[IsraelTimes] 30 maimed as thousands gather on border; UN envoy speaks with Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, chief on implementing understandings with Israel to prevent renewed violence.One Paleostinian was killed and 30 were maimed as thousands gathered on the Gazoo Strip border Friday for weekly protests, according to Gazoo’s Hamas-run health ministry. The violence was seen as a major test for the calm that has prevailed since intense fighting last weekend between Israel and terror groups in the coastal enclave.
Aaaaannnnd you failed. Because ...you're Paleos
Some 6,000 Paleostinians took part in demonstrations at five locations along the border. Several hundred people were rioting, throwing explosives and rocks at Israeli forces. IDF soldiers responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.
Twenty-four-year-old Abdullah Abed al-A’al was killed on the border near the southern Gazoo city of Rafah, Gazoo’s health ministry reported. It said 30 were maimed by live fire in the festivities.
The IDF’s Arabic-language front man shared footage from the festivities near the southern Gazoo city of Rafah on his Twitter account, which appeared to show Paleostinians attempting to damage the border fence.
Ahead of the protests, UN Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov spoke with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank.... The two discussed efforts to implement understandings reportedly reached between Israel and Hamas to prevent renewed violence, the Kan public broadcaster quoted Haniyeh’s office as saying.
Israel has refused to officially confirm the ceasefire understandings.
In addition to the border rioting, a fire broke out Friday in the nearby Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. Authorities were probing if the blaze was started by an incendiary balloon flown from the Gazoo Strip, Hebrew media reported.
Earlier Friday, Israel began easing restrictions on Gazoo put in place amid the latest fighting, including reopening a 12 nautical mile fishing zone off the coast of the Strip. It also reopened the crossings into and out of Gazoo at midnight Thursday, after they had been closed for Memorial Day and Independence Day, as is standard practice.
COGAT, the Defense Ministry body that liaises with the Paleostinians, said in a statement late Thursday that the fishing zone expansion is "part of the civilian policy for prevention of deterioration in humanitarian conditions in the Gazoo Strip and is consistent with the policy of distinguishing between gunnies and the general population."
The statement warned that security forces would "handle any deviation" from the agreement.
IDF denies Reports Of Two Gaza Rockets Fired On Israel On Friday
[Jpost] IDF spokesperson denied early Paleostinian reports of two rockets from Gazoo that were fired on Israel Friday evening. The alleged rockets followed the death of a 24 year old Paleostinian youth during the Friday festivities with IDF forces during the 'March of Return' protests.