by News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Amid mounting Gaza border tensions, IDF chief of staff announces reinforcement of southern sector
A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli troops during a
protest at Gaza border
Photo: AP
Amid mounting
tensions along the Israel-Gaza border in recent weeks, the IDF chief of
staff announced on Thursday that the Israeli military would be
reinforcing troops in the border area in anticipation of further
escalation.
In a statement Thursday following a
security assessment attended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi
Eizenkot, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that it was decided to
"widely deploy forces in the southern sector in the coming days and
forge ahead with our steadfast policy of preventing terrorist activity
and infiltration into Israeli territory along the security fence in the
[Gaza] Strip."
"We are prepared to confront a variety of
scenarios," the statement added, "and we view Hamas as solely
responsible for everything that happens in the Gaza Strip and everything
that comes out of it."
The IDF announcement came hours after Yahya
Sinwar, Hamas' military leader, gave a rare interview to Israeli paper
Yedioth Ahronoth, in which he insisted that Hamas does not want to go to
war with Israel.
"A new war with Israel is in neither
party's interest. Certainly not ours. Who would want to pit four
slingshots against a nuclear power? War will achieve nothing," Sinwar
said.
On Wednesday, the Gaza Health Ministry said
that Israeli troops had killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and
wounded 24 others during a protest near the border crossing into Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians rioted near the Erez crossing, the only pedestrian crossing between Israel and Gaza.
The IDF said rioters torched tires and
hurled rocks and explosives at the troops, who responded with crowd
control measures and sporadic live fire, in accordance with the IDF
rules of engagement.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the boy died of a head injury after being shot by Israeli troops manning the crossing.
An AP cameraman who witnessed the incident said the boy was hit by a tear gas canister.
At least 175 Palestinians have been killed
since Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza, launched its border
riot campaign on March 30 to demand the easing of an Israeli-Egyptian
economic blockade on the Strip.
Israel accuses the Islamist group Hamas of deliberately provoking violence during the protests, an allegation Hamas denies.
News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/10/04/teen-killed-in-gaza-border-protest-palestinians-health-officials-say/
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