Israel targets Hamas posts in Gaza
Jerusalem, April 11: The Israeli army said it fired at unspecified Hamas “military targets” in Gaza on Wednesday after a Palestinian bomb attack on an army engineering unit working inside the Hamas- ruled territory.
No Israelis were reported injured in the explosion, which the army’s radio station said appeared to have targeted a mechanical digger. It was not clear what the engineering unit was working on, though Israel routinely carries out maintenance work on or near the border fence in an area it considers a buffer zone.
The army said the bomb was planted under cover of mass protests along the Gaza- Israel border since March 30.
“During routine activity in northern Gaza, an explosive device that was placed under the guise of the riots was detonated against an ( army) engineering vehicle on the western side of the security fence,” a military statement said. “In response, the Israel defence forces struck a number of Hamas military targets,” it added.
The statement did not give the location of the targets or the type of military fire used. Israel has used both tank fire and air strikes against Hamas targets in the past.
A Gazan security source said the strikes had targeted a base for Hamas’s armed wing east of Gaza City, causing damage but no injuries.
Separately, two Palestinians were moderately injured east of Gaza City in clashes on Wednesday morning, according to the health ministry in Gaza.