Israel halts fuel transfer to Gaza over continued balloon-borne attacks
IDF strikes Hamas targets after some 80 fires were ignited on Tuesday and Wednesday.
By TOVAH LAZAROFF, ANNA AHRONHEIMA member of Palestinian security forces gestures as a fuel tanker arrives at Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 15, 2018(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
As incendiary and explosive balloons continued to be launched from the Gaza Strip, Israel’s Defense Ministry has halted the transfer of fuel into the coastal enclave.The Office of the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that the resections were ’In light of the continued launching of incendiary balloons from the Strip toward the territory of the State of Israel and of the undermining of security stability.“Hamas is accountable for all that is done in the Gaza Strip, as well as for actions launched from Gaza against Israel. Therefore, Hamas will have to bear the consequences of the violence committed against the citizens of the State of Israel,” COGAT added.Fuel is particularly essential for Gaza because it is used to power its electricity plant.Israel controls two out of Gaza’s three crossings, the pedestrian one at Erez and the commercial one at Kerem Shalom. Egypt is in charge of the third one at Rafah. Israel has already put a stop to the passage of all but essential humanitarian supplies into Gaza and had limited the nautical fishing miles from 15 to eight.Restrictions at Kerem Shalom are a measure of the level of tension between Hamas and Israel, and often precedes a serious outbreak of violence.The announcement came hours after Israeli fighter jets, attack helicopters, and tanks struck Hamas targets in the Strip including military facilities of the group’s naval force, underground infrastructure, and observation posts in response to a spate of balloons launched throughout the day on Wednesday.According to Gaza-based media, the strikes hit targets in the southern Gazan city of Rafah as well as Deir al-Balah and Gaza city in the central part of the Strip as well as in Beit Hanoun in the north.While there were no casualties in the strikes, a primary school run by UNRWA in the Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza city was damaged.After a lull of several months amid the outbreak of the coronavirus, Palestinians in Gaza have once again resumed launching the devices from the blockaded coastal enclave leading to a fear of a new wave of violence in the area.
Some 80 fires were ignited on Tuesday and Wednesday by incendiary balloons launched from the Hamas-ruled Strip.On Thursday morning Gaza Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Nimrod Aloni paid a visit to areas hit by the balloons and ordered an expansion of troop deployment to help the firefighting effort.Gazans started launching incendiary and explosive devices such as kites, balloons and condoms around two years ago when they began to hold weekly Great March of Return demonstrations along the border fence.The military has struck Hamas targets in Gaza over the past week in response to the launching of the devices. On Wednesday the IDF said it had opened an investigation after a missile fired by an attack helicopter towards the Strip landed inside an Israeli community, damaging a cowshed.The missile didn’t explode and there were no injuries in the incident.
