Gaza City: Israel’s army said it had launched air strikes targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip early Saturday, following bloodshed in border protest clashes that saw a Palestinian teenager shot dead and an Israeli soldier injured.
The Israeli aerial bombardment came as rockets and mortars were lobbed into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, after a particularly bloody day of demonstrations at the frontier that also left scores of Palestinians injured.
Army fighter jets targeted an offensive terror tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, in addition to several terror sites in military compounds throughout the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said in a statement.
According to witnesses in the Gaza Strip, there were no casualties from the airstrikes, which damaged infrastructure controlled by Hamas, who have been in charge of the area since 2007.
The strikes were conducted in response to the terror acts instigated during the violent riots that took place along the security fence Friday, the statement said.
It also cited continuous arson attacks damaging Israeli territory on a daily basis with the launching of arson balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.
Footage of Friday’s bloodshed by AFP showed one Palestinian teenager shot dead at the fence between the two territories. Fifteen-year-old Othman Rami Halles was killed east of Gaza City, health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qodra said.
The ministry said a further 220 other Palestinians were wounded as protests along the frontier spilt over into clashes. The majority were involved in protests and clashes but others were seeking to breach or damage the border fence.