Israel says over 2,000 violent incidents originated in Gaza in past year
Statistical review finds Palestinians launched 1,233 rockets from the Strip, hurled 94 explosive devices and 600 Molotov cocktails across the border fence
Israel said on Wednesday that more than 2,000 violent incidents have emanated from the Gaza Strip since Hamas-orchestrated weekly border demonstrations erupted a year ago.
A statistical review found that Palestinians launched 1,233 rockets from Gaza, hurled 94 explosive devices and 600 Molotov cocktails across the security fence and committed 152 acts of arson against Israeli forces.
The report said rocket fire killed one Israeli and injured 126. Palestinian attacks on the security fence killed one Israeli soldier and wounded 16.
It said incendiary kites have torched thousands of acres of Israeli farmland, causing over $9.5 million in damage.
Israel has been accused internationally for using disproportionate force against unarmed protesters, but the military says troops only open fire after they come under attack and their lives are in danger. Over the past year, nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. Hamas has claimed dozens of them as members.
There was a spike in tensions this week after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in the agricultural community of Mishmeret in central Israel and destroyed it completely, wounding seven people. Israel responded with airstrikes on scores of targets in the Gaza Strip.
Since Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority in a bloody 2007 coup, Israel has fought three campaigns against the Islamist terror group, which calls for Israel’s destruction.
Throughout the recent violence, Egyptian military intelligence officials have been working to broker a ceasefire. Israel is reportedly demanding an end to rocket fire and to all violence along the border, including the weekly riots along the Gaza border fence and the launching of airborne incendiary and explosive devices into Israel.
On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces deployed two additional brigades to the Gaza border region and called up approximately 1,000 reservists for air defense and other select units.
