Gaza City - Palestinian militants fired two rockets from the
Gaza Strip into Israel's southern Negev desert on Thursday, a
spokesman for the Israeli army said.
They were launched hours after Israeli soldiers killed a
Palestinian who crossed the border into Israel, the first fatality
since a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in
the enclave took effect some three weeks ago.
The launchings, which caused no injuries or damage, brought to at
least 10 the number of rockets fired from the Strip despite the
Egyptian-brokered truce, Israel Radio reported. Palestinian militants
have also launched at least four mortars on Israel over in the same
period.
Palestinian medical officials and the Israeli army confirmed the
shooting of a Palestinian in his 20s near the southern Gaza Strip
border crossing of Kissufim.
An Israeli army spokesman said the man had crossed into Israel
while failing to heed warnings from Israeli soldiers to stop. The
soldiers opened fire and killed him.
No weapons were found near the body, the spokesman said. Reports
in Gaza City quoted the victim's family saying he had mental
problems.
As part of the fragile truce, Israel meanwhile allowed the first
raw materials into the Strip in more than a year. The gradual easing
of its tight economic blockade of the salient is part of the
ceasefire agreement.
Since the ceasefire came into effect on June 19, there have been a
number of incidents in which Israeli troops have fired on
Palestinians who entered a 'no-go' security zone near the border
fence, which have resulted in the injury of at least three
Palestinian farmers.
The Islamic Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, has
charged the shootings are a violation of the truce agreement.
The Israeli army spokesman said the shooting Thursday followed
several attacks on Israeli troops in that area, including an
attempt by militant Palestinians to plant a roadside bomb near
Kissufim.
On Wednesday night undercover Israeli commandos shot dead a
suspected Palestinian militant in the northern West Bank city of
Jenin. The commandos opened fire when the suspect resisted arrest.
An Israeli military spokewoman identified the fatality as Talal
Saed Halal Abed, 32, of the Hamas movement, and alleged he belonged
to a local militant squad from a village near Jenin that was planning
a suicide bombing in Israel.
Israel further eased its ban on the entry of secondary goods into
Gaza Thursday, including iron for the construction industry, the
general administration of the crossings said.
The number of trucks Israel allowed into Gaza has exceeded 100 for
the first time since the ceasefire took effect, according to the
administration.
However, fuel supplies, especially gasoline, were still being
rationed, with the transport crisis in Gaza continuing.
Israel imposed an economic blockade of the Gaza Strip after the Hamas
takeover June 2007, allowing only humanitarian supplies.
Since the ceasefire, Israel has gradually increased the volume of
supplies, closing crossing points only for several days in response
to rocket attacks by Palestinian factions which reject Hamas-Israel
ceasefire.
Two Palestinians were killed Thursday when an underground tunnel
dug for smuggling goods collapsed on them in the southern Gaza
Strip, medical officials said.
Paramedics said they removed the bodies from the tunnel, which
leads under the Gaza-Egypt border, to the east of the Rafah
crossing. That crossing has been closed as part of economic sanctions
on the Strip.
Hundreds of tunnels are estimated to have been dug under the
Gaza-Egypt border, with the number having increased after Israel
sealed off commercial crossing points. The tunnels are used to
smuggle food, fuel and other goods, such as cigarettes. They are also
used to smuggle weapons for armed Palestinian groups.
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