Israel strikes Gaza after civilian shot along border
3 Palestinians injured in exchange of fire
JERUSALEM – An Israeli and three Palestinians were wounded Wednesday in the first exchange of fire in months on the Gaza frontier. The violence came as Israel announced measures aimed at improving living conditions in the occupied West Bank after a rare meeting of top officials.
Israel has announced a number of measures in recent months it said are aimed at easing tensions, but they have had little visible impact on the ground, where attacks by Israeli settlers and Palestinians are on the rise. There have been no peace talks in more than a decade.
The Israeli military said a civilian near the security fence was lightly wounded by gunfire from Gaza, and that it responded with tank fire at multiple military positions manned by the Hamas militant group, which has ruled the territory since 2007. The Gaza Health Ministry said three Palestinians were wounded, without saying if they were civilians or fighters.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved a series of measures aimed at improving relations with the Palestinians after playing host to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his home in Israel late Tuesday.
It was the first time Abbas met an Israeli official inside the country since 2010. The two discussed security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which administers pockets of the occupied West Bank.
Gantz’s office said he approved “confidence-building measures,” including the transfer of tax payments to the Palestinian Authority, the authorization of hundreds of permits for Palestinian merchants and VIPS, and approving residency status for thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel collects hundreds of millions of dollars of taxes on behalf of the PA as part of the interim peace agreements signed in the 1990s.
The tax transfers are a key source of funding for the Palestinians, but Israel has withheld funds over the PA’S payment of stipends to thousands of families that have had relatives killed, wounded or imprisoned in the conflict. Israel said the payments incentivize terrorism, but the Palestinians said they provide crucial support to needy families.
Israel approved residency for about 9,500 Palestinians. Israel controls the Palestinian population registry, and over the years, its policies have left an estimated tens of thousands of Palestinians without legal status, severely limiting their freedom of movement, even within the occupied territories. Israel granted legal status to about 4,000 Palestinians in October.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to Palestinian statehood. His government has shown no interest in reviving peace talks but has said it wants to reduce tensions by improving living conditions in the West Bank.
Recent months have seen a surge in Palestinian attacks on Israelis in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.