Gaza/Tel Aviv - Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian
militants in the south-eastern Gaza Strip near the border with Israel
Friday, killing one and injuring at least two others, witnesses said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israeli soldiers were on a
routine patrol along the border fence, north-east of the southern
Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, when they identified a number of
Palestinian militants who tried to place explosives near the fence.
She said the militants opened fire at the Israeli patrol, which
returned fire and claimed to have hit one of them.
She said the militants also fired at least three mortar shells at
the Israeli force during the confrontation.
The latest clash comes after the sides made attempts over the past
week to restore a fragile informal truce between the radical Islamic
Hamas ruling Gaza and Israel, which has been thrown into doubt since
a November 4 clash near the Gaza border with Israel that left at
least five Hamas militants dead and sparked a new wave of rocket and
mortar attacks at southern Israel.
Since Thursday last week, the rocket attacks had dropped again to
an average of one a day, but this Thursday the number rose again to
three rockets.
Israel had responded to the new wave of violence by slapping a
near-total closure on Gaza, preventing all but the most basic
humanitarian aid from entering the enclave. Also journalists have not
been allowed into the strip for the past three weeks, with
international media protesting the Israeli move as 'unprecedented'
and a 'serious violation of press freedom.'
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak decided to keep the border
closed again Friday, after three rockets landed in Israel Thursday.
The closure has led to on and off power blackouts as well as a
shortage in Gaza of many products, including meat and dairy.
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