Gaza City: Warmlanes Israeli bombed Gaza on Saturday after clashes between her troops and the Palestinian protesters left dozens injured, including an Israeli border police and a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who was injured critically.
The Israeli military said it carried out air strikes against four weapons sites and that it had strengthened the Gaza Division with additional troops.
Escalation came just three months since Israel and the rulers of Islamic ad Enclave Hamas reached a ceasefire after their most deadly battle in the years.
Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian protesters who gathered near the Gaza border wall, said the army and Palestinian witnesses.
A Palestinian armed man opened fire on Israeli troops through a gap on the wall and the crowd of young protesters threw explosives through a barrier and tried to scale it.
The Gaza Health Ministry managed Hamas said the injured included a 13-year-old boy remaining in critical condition after being hit on the head.
“Forty-one civilians were injured with various injuries,” said the ministry in a statement, with Hamas said the “thousands” protesters had taken part.
The Israeli border police said the 21-year-old sniper in his disguise unit was very injured when he was shot by a Palestinian protest.
“The condition is very important and there is a risk to his life,” he said about injured officers.
The Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai in a statement swore the troops will “continue to act strongly and with all our strengths against those who want to hurt us.” Defense Minister Benny Gantz has warned that “this is clearly a very serious event that will have a response”.
Shortly after his comments, the Israeli Air Force said on Twitter that “combat jets hit four manufacturing places and storage sites owned by Hamas terrorist organizations”.
There are no direct reports of every victim of the strike.
Hamas called Saturday’s protest to mark burning 52 years ago at the Al-Aqsa Jerusalem Mosque, the third most holy site in Islam.
“The Al-Aqsa mosque is a red line, and any attack on it will be filled with dashing resistance from our people,” said the movement in a statement.
Saturday night, Hamas and other groups in Gaza issued a joint statement where they “saluted to the heroic youth” who clashed with Israeli forces.
The violence is some of the worst since the May 21 weapon ceasefire began to apply.
More than 11 days in May, Israel pounded Gaza with air strikes in response to rockets fired from the bag.
Hamas said it needed action after Israeli security forces invaded Al-Aqsa in May.
Reconstruction in Gaza has stopped since the ceasefire, partly because the blockade that paralyzed Israel had been maintained in the bag because Hamas seized power in 2007.
On Thursday, Israel announced it would allow funds from Qatar to reach poor Palestine in Gaza.
Other restrictions remain there.
The Egyptian ceasefire which was ordered between Hamas and Israel was mostly held, even though there had been a flare-up.
On Monday Israel said the “Iron Dome” Defense System Rudail intercepted rocket fired by militants in Gaza to Israel, for the first time since the battle recently.
It came after four Palestinians were killed at the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
In 2018, Gaza began the protest movement demanding the termination of the Israeli blockade and the rights for Palestinians to return to the land they released after the Jewish states were established.
Weekly demonstrations supported by Hamas, often hard, stammered when Israel killed 350 Palestinians in Gaza more than a year.