Violence erupts amid Gaza truce; two Palestinians shot and killed

JERUSALEM — Violence erupted at the Gaza border Friday after the territory’s militant Islamic Hamas rulers and Israel appeared to be honouring a ceasefire that ended two days of intense violence.

Israel’s military said no rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel overnight and it conducted no airstrikes in Gaza against Hamas targets.

On Friday evening, however, two Palestinians, including a paramedic, were shot and killed by Israeli fire at a Hamas-led protest along the border, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

The military said a tank fired shells at a Hamas position after Palestinians threw explosive devices and a grenade at forces stationed near the border.

It was not immediately clear whether the Hamas protests at the border were included in ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas’s Al Aqsa TV channel reported late Thursday that the Egyptian-brokered deal took hold “on the basis of mutual calm.” It was at least the third such truce in recent weeks.

But the deal did not seem to address the deeper issues that have prevented the bitter enemies from reaching a longer ceasefire arrangement.

Gaza militants fired some 200 rockets at Israel and the Israeli military carried out a similar number of airstrikes in Gaza .

Also on Friday, the Israeli military lifted restrictive recommendations for residents of some areas in southern Israel that it had set amid the Palestinian bombing, including suggestions to avoid open areas and beaches.