Gaza man shot dead by Israelis after air raids
A Palestinian was shot dead by Israelis yesterday near the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that “Sabri Ahmed Abu Khader, 24, was killed by bullets of the occupation forces”.
At least 131 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since major border protests broke out at the end of March. No Israelis have been killed. Palestinians are demanding the right to return to the homes their families fled from or from which they were expelled during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.
Earlier, Israeli warplanes conducted strikes against nine Hamas “military targets” in northern Gaza in response to incendiary kites and balloons being sent into Israeli territory, the army said.
The attacks targeted two Hamas military sites and a munitions manufacturing site, the military said, without specifying whether the raids had resulted in casualties.
Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Defence Minister, warned after yesterday’s strikes that Gazans would pay a price for flying burning kites and balloons over Israeli land.
“If anyone thinks they can continue the routine of kites and fires every day – he’s mistaken,” his office said.
Palestinian security sources said nobody was wounded in the morning air strikes.
“Fire balloons” and kites carrying flammable material have become symbols of the Palestinian border protests.
Mr Lieberman claimed that 400 kites have been intercepted out of about 600 launched since the end of March. Fire has devastated several thousand hectares of fields and shrub land, causing about Dh7.3 million in damage.