Two Palestinians, one of them a 13-year-old boy and an Israeli soldiers were wounded in renewed fighting along the Gaza border. Hundreds of Palestinian protestors came to the Gaza border to mark the anniversary of an arson attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque more than 50 years ago. The new tensions come as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meets U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington later this week.
An Israeli army spokesman said protestors began gathering at the border fence on Saturday afternoon, and Palestinians threw explosives and rocks across the border at Israeli soldiers. The army said the soldiers responded with crowd dispersal means including live fire. Palestinians released a video that showed them trying to grab the gun of an Israeli soldier who poked it through a hole in the fence the soldiers used as a sniper position. The video shows a Palestinian shooting a pistol through the same hole, hitting the Israeli soldier in the head.
Israel responded with attacks on Hamas weapons stores in Gaza, but military analysts said the response was low key. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel will not accept attacks on its soldiers.
He said that Israel will settle the score with anyone who attacks its soldiers. It is the most tense the border between Israel and Gaza has been since May, when the two sides fought an 11-day war that left at least 260 Palestinians and 13 people in Israel dead.
It also comes as Bennett is scheduled to hold his first meeting with U.S .President Joe Biden. While the Palestinian issue will be on the agenda, Israel is even more concerned about the possibility of Iran becoming a nuclear power.
