New fighting kills Israeli, seven Palestinians

JERUSALEM — A new wave of fighting broke out between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, leaving an Israeli soldier and seven Palestinians dead just as Israel and Hamas had appeared to be making progress toward ratcheting down months of border violence.

It was not immediately clear what set off the sudden, late-night burst of violence.

In a statement early today, the Israeli military said an officer was killed and another one was moderately injured during “an operational activity” in southeast Gaza Strip in which an exchange of gunfire was involved. It did not elaborate.

Earlier, Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said Israeli undercover forces in a civilian vehicle infiltrated 2 miles into Gaza and fatally shot one of the group’s commanders. It said militants found the car and chased it down, prompting Israeli airstrikes that killed “a number of people.”

The Palestinian Health Ministry said six people, including at least five militants, were killed and seven others wounded. A seventh body was found later.

In Israel, the military said it had intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in France on an official visit, announced he was ending his trip early and returning to Israel to deal with the crisis.

Sunday’s development shattered what appeared to be a turning point after months of bloodshed along the Israel-Gaza border, with weekly Hamas-led protests drawing thousands to the perimeter fence with Israel. Over 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the border protests, in which Palestinians throw rocks, burning tires and grenades toward Israeli troops.

Last week, Israel allowed Qatar to deliver $15 million in aid to Gaza’s cash-strapped Hamas rulers. Hamas responded by lowering the intensity of Friday’s border protest.

Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu defended his decision to allow the transfer of the Qatari money, rejecting criticism that the move had strengthened the Islamic militant group.

Netanyahu told reporters that it was “the right step” at the moment, and that he was committed to restoring quiet along the Israel-Gaza frontier and preventing a humanitarian crisis in the coastal Palestinian territory.

“Every action, without exception, has a price,” he said. “If you can’t handle the price you cannot lead. And I can handle the price.”

Israeli critics, including members of Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition, accused him of capitulating to violence and of granting relief to the embattled Hamas group.

The internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007, angrily accused the U.S. and Israel of being involved in a “conspiracy” to permanently sever Gaza from the West Bank. He promised to take unspecified measures against his Hamas rivals in the coming days.

Abbas fears that the U.S. is preparing to float a peace plan, called the “Deal of the Century” by President Donald Trump, which would leave Hamas in control of Gaza and give him only limited autonomy in pieces of the West Bank.

“There is an American conspiracy, which is the ‘Deal of the Century,’ and there is an Israeli conspiracy to implement the ‘Deal of the Century,’” he said.