Liberman orders immediate halt of fuel transfer into Gaza Strip
Six Palestinians killed during violent riots along security fence.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ordered the immediate halt to the
transfer of fuel into the Gaza Strip following heavy rioting along the
security fence on Friday, his office announced Friday evening.
According to a statement released by his office, four Israeli diesel
tankers entered the Gaza Strip and shortly before the violent riots
began along the border fence.“Israel will not tolerate a situation in
which fuel tankers are allowed to enter Gaza on the one hand, while
terror and violence are used against IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens
on the other,” it said.
“In addition, Hamas continues to welcome any terrorist attack and
encourages the Palestinians, residents of the West Bank, to carry out
attacks against Israeli citizens. In light of all this, Defense Minister
Lieberman decided to stop the flow of fuel to Gaza immediately.”
Qatari-bought fuel has been entering the Gaza Strip in recent days in an
attempt to alleviate the conditions in the blockaded coastal enclave by
powering Gaza’s sole power station. Israel has facilitated the delivery
of hundreds of liters of fuel hoping that it would stem the weekly
border clashes.
Last week, Liberman ordered the reduction of the Gaza fishing zone to 6
nautical miles on Saturday following violent protests along the security
fence with Israel and warned that additional measures would be taken if
the violence continued.
According to the IDF, some 20,000 Palestinians took part in violent
riots along the border fence, throwing rocks, grenades, Molotov
cocktails and explosive devices at troops as well as burning tires and
launching incendiary aerial devices into southern Israel. The IDF
responded to the violence and attempted sabotage of the fence with crowd
dispersal techniques in accordance with open-fire regulations.
Troops also identified several Palestinians who breached the security
fence in the southern Gaza Strip and set off a bomb which set a section
of the fence on fire. Immediately afterwards a group of 20 Palestinians
were seen crossing the fence and approached an IDF sniper position,
leading troops to open fire and kill several of them. The majority
returned to the Strip.
“This terrorist attempt that was thwarted by an IDF force in a
professional and rapid manner prevented attacks against civilians and
security forces,” read a statement released by the IDF Spokesperson’s
Unit.
“The Hamas terrorist organization continues to lead to violent
disturbances in an attempt to carry out terrorist attacks against
Israel. The IDF will not allow the fence to be turned into a zone of
violence and subterranean warfare, and will continue to act to ensure
the security of the residents of the State of Israel,” it added.
On Thursday, the military announced that it had destroyed a Hamas
cross-border terror tunnel. The tunnel, which stretched from Khan Younis
and 200 meters into Israel, was the 15th to be destroyed in the past
year.
Palestinian news agency Wafa stated that at least six Gazans were killed
on Friday and another 112 injured by live bullets or teargas.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported overy 200 Palestinians have been
killed and thousands others wounded since the outbreak of the Gaza
border protests which began on March 30 and which call for an end of the
Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians have also been launching incendiary aerial devices into
southern Israel from the coastal enclave, burning more than 2,800
hectares of agricultural fields, forests and nature reserves.
On Friday, heavy fires from the burning tires in the southern Gaza Strip
near the Kerem Shalom crossing prompted authorities to deploy large
fans in an attempt to clear the smoke. Another 10 fires from incendiary
devices were extinguished by firefighters.
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