IDF strikes 2 Hamas posts as thousands protest along Gaza border



Around 7,000 Palestinians rallied near the Gaza border Friday afternoon in weekly protests at the Israeli frontier.
The Israeli military said demonstrators hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at soldiers, who responded with tear gas and other less lethal means. Troops fired at Palestinians who attempted to breach the border fence and enter Israel.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said a 17-year-old teen was killed in the demonstrations and 94 people were wounded, of which 30 had been injured by gunfire.
Balloons with incendiary devices attached were again flown across the border, after being largely absent in recent weeks. Two fires broke out in Israel as a result of the arson attacks.
Some protesters staged a mock execution of Israeli and US leaders, hanging effigies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and US President Donald Trump.
Photos showed other demonstrators burn dolls and cutouts of the US president and trample pictures of him. One demonstrator carried a bloodied up puppet of the American leader.


Friday’s protests are the first since the US announced it was cutting all aid to UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian humanitarian assistance.
“The rights of the Palestinian people will not be decided by the White House,” Hamas said in a statement. “They are decided by marches and the sacrifices of the people.”

Trump told Jewish leaders Thursday that the US would not give aid to the Palestinians until they reach an agreement with Israel. “What I will tell you is I stopped massive amounts of money that we were paying to the Palestinians and the Palestinian leaders,” Trump said. “The United States was paying them tremendous amounts of money. And I say, ‘You’ll get money, but we’re not paying until you make a deal. If you don’t make a deal, we’re not paying.’”
Last Friday, some 5,000 Palestinians protested along the border, and some 180 were wounded, according to Palestinian reports.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced on Thursday that the Erez pedestrian crossing into the Strip would be kept closed for a week as punishment over rioting and vandalism perpetrated at the site by a group of Palestinians earlier this week.