According to a senior IDF officer, the Hamas government is controlling and managing the violence and intentionally sending women, children and disabled people to the border.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Two more unsuccessful attempts were made to infiltrate Israel Sunday evening in the Hamas-led hostilities at the Gaza border.
In the first incident, IDF forces killed one of two terrorists trying to infiltrate Israel from the southern part of the Strip and captured the other.
In the second, two more terrorists breached the fence and threw a firebomb at IDF soldiers guarding the area. The soldiers accurately returned fire, killing both.
This brings the number of terrorists killed to 44 over the past five weeks of violent demonstrations at the Gaza border that the Palestinians are calling the “March of Return.” A few thousand have been injured as well, whether from inhalation of tear gas, rubber bullets or live fire from the snipers the IDF has stationed at the border to prevent infiltrations.
Last Friday, hundreds of Arabs rushed a barbed wire fence within Gaza to try and dismantle it in what was the most violent attempt yet to cross the barrier, according to a senior IDF officer. The army responded with riot-control measures and live bullets under threatening circumstances.
The response was necessary to prevent those throwing firebombs, rolling burning tires, and making other attempts to physically tear down the security infrastructure from entering Israeli territory. According to the officer, the Hamas government is controlling and managing the violence and intentionally sending women, children and disabled people to the border.
On Saturday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised the rioters and urged them to continue their violent confrontations, saying that “the protests put the Palestinians on the right path to liberation.”