The Israeli military confirmed that it conducted airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday, where protests have persisted for several days, leading to clashes between protesters and troops along the separation fence.
While the Israeli military did not provide specific details about the strikes, media outlets associated with the Islamist Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip, reported that security outposts were targeted.
Earlier in the day, the health ministry reported that 14 Palestinians had been wounded during confrontations in which dozens of young people threw stones, rudimentary pipe bombs, and burning tires at security forces.
Notably, during this round of unrest, Palestinian protesters launched balloons into Israel for the first time, causing extensive damage to vegetation on the Israeli side of the border. Palestinian health officials reported that Israeli fire had wounded 28 Palestinians during protests along the barrier.
Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, asserted that the youth-led protests were a response to Israeli provocations.
Tensions have escalated over the past week, prompting Israel to bar the entry of thousands of Palestinian laborers from the impoverished enclave.
In the past, Palestinians in Gaza have used balloons to protest the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed on the territory since 2007. These balloons have caused fires and damaged Israeli farmland, leading Israel to use fighter jets to strike Hamas positions on several occasions.
The evening airstrikes on Friday targeted three military posts belonging to Hamas, according to the Israeli army. Israel and Hamas have engaged in four wars and numerous smaller confrontations since Hamas assumed control of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian protesters at the border fence on Friday stated that their demonstrations were in response to recent visits by Jewish individuals to a contested holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City. Jews revere the hilltop compound as the Temple Mount, which was the site of the biblical Jewish Temples and is now home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
While Jews are permitted to visit the site under longstanding arrangements, they are not allowed to pray there. However, the increasing number of visits, along with reports of some Jews praying quietly, have heightened Palestinian concerns that Israel may seek to divide or take control of the site. Israel maintains that it is committed to preserving the longstanding status quo.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli forces in the northern West Bank killed a Palestinian militant, as confirmed by Palestinian authorities. The Islamic Jihad militant group claimed the deceased individual as one of its fighters, identifying him as 18-year-old Abdallah Abu Hasan.
