Palestinians in Gaza rioted near the border fence with Israel on Friday,
firing guns in the direction of IDF soldiers, throwing stones and
throwing Molotov cocktails, the IDF Spokesman's Office stated.
No
soldiers were injured in the incident, however light damage was caused
to an IDF vehicle. Channel 2 reported that the vehicle which was damaged
belonged to commander of the Southern Gaza Division, Maj. Gen. Ofer
Vinter.
Israeli military sources stated that three Palestinians were hit by IDF return fire. None of the three wounded in the incident in the northern Gaza Strip was seriously hurt, a Palestinian medical source said.
The incident came after Palestinian terrorists broke a three-month cease-fire on Tuesday and fired a rocket from Gaza into southern Israel.
The rocket fell on a road south of Ashkelon causing damage, but no injuries.
The
M-75-type medium-range projectile was the same as those used to hit Tel
Aviv and greater Jerusalem during November’s eight-day conflict with
Hamas.
The Gaza branch of Fatah, the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade,
said it was behind the attack, according to the Palestinian news agency
Ma’an.
The report said the brigades fired a rocket in response to
the “liquidation” of Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat, who recently
died in the Megiddo security prison.
Although Hamas is not
believed to have fired the rocket, it is unlikely that the Al-Aksa
Brigade in Gaza could have done so independently, without Hamas’s
blessing.
The rocket siren warning system did not go off in Ashkelon during the attack, a failure that is being investigated by the IDF.
Following
the attack, the IDF shut the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza to
goods and decreased activity at the Erez Crossing, allowing only
humanitarian goods to enter the Strip.
Yaakov Lappin and Reuters contributed to this report.