Despite reports of a truce Friday between Israel and Hamas, border riots and incendiary balloon attacks from the Gaza Strip continued over the weekend.
Fourteen brush fires erupted in Gaza-envelope communities, while Hamas’s so-called “balloon unit” stated on Facebook: “Despite the Zionist occupation’s claims of a ceasefire, we haven’t received any directives to halt the balloon launches, and today too we will continue to launch them with full force.”
All the fires, aside from three larger ones in the Sha’ar HaNegev and Eshkol regions which continued to rage into the evening on Friday, were contained within minutes.
Hours after the reported agreement, thousands of Palestinians protested along the volatile Gaza-Israel border.
During the protests, Palestinian youths were seen launching incendiary balloons towards Israeli farmland. Others approached the heavily guarded fence at several locations. A fire bomb was thrown at an Israel Defense Forces jeep.
Israeli troops responded with live fire and tear gas. Gaza’s health ministry claimed 19 demonstrators were wounded.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
