After months of calm, the Gaza border once again became the scene of a gun
attack on the IDF on Friday, when a Palestinian terrorist fired at an IDF jeep
carrying a senior commander.
Damage caused by the gunfire was found on
the jeep of Maj.-Gen. Ofer Vinter, commander of the northern brigade of the Gaza
Division. No one was injured in the attack, which occurred in northern Gaza. The
IDF did not return fire.
Throughout Friday, the army also encountered
several groups of Palestinian rioters along the border. The rioters hurled
firebombs and rocks at soldiers, and approached the border.
The IDF
opened fire during three disturbances, lightly injuring three Palestinians,
Palestinian medical sources said.
Palestinians also rioted at several
locations across the West Bank. IDF soldiers dispersed them using tear gas and
rubber bullets.
At least one Palestinian was seriously hurt after being
hit in the head by a rubber bullet, a Palestinian ambulance worker
said.
Last year, an escalation in Palestinian attacks on IDF patrols
along the border, which included explosives, shoulder-held missiles and
large-scale rocket fire on the South, prompted an eight-day Israel Air Force
offensive against Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Friday’s violence along the
Gaza border came after terrorists in the Strip broke a three month truce by
firing a rocket at Ashkelon last week. The rocket fell on a road south of
Ashkelon, causing damage but no injuries.
The rocket fired was an M-75
medium-range projectile – 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’s Aksa Martyrs Brigades said it was behind the attack, according to the
Palestinian news agency Ma’an.
Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff
contributed to this report.