Escalation expected at the Gaza border – report

Israel has refused to allow Qatari funds into the Gaza Strip and will not permit the transfer until it receives a commitment that calm would be maintained until after the elections next month, the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reported on Friday.

Sources in Hamas said that they communicated the mediators that an escalation is to be expected in the march on the fence on Friday and that they were considering resuming attempts to damage the fence, the launch of incendiary balloons and other activities. According to the report, the organizations in the Gaza Strip rejected the Israeli demand. The Qatari envoy is reportedly currently in the Strip.

During the night, IDF fighters hit a terrorist approaching the Gaza border who threw grenades at the troops on the scene.

According to an IDF spokesperson, the soldiers identified an armed terrorist approaching the fence in the northern Gaza Strip.

The fighters gathered at the location of the attack and they stormed and hit the terrorist. They were no casualties among the soldiers.

Earlier, a source in Gaza told Maariv that the situation in the Strip was on the verge of an escalation. The source blamed the dire economic situation in the enclave and what he described as Israel’s deceptive attitude regarding its arrangement with Hamas.

“The next round of fighting is a matter of time,” he said.

“The situation is critical,” he noted, “Hamas may want to escalate the situation.”

He further emphasized: “The only actions they undertake are carried out to hit and eve kidnap soldiers. The whole situation shows that we are about to face a new round of fighting, perhaps limited.”

“Poverty has become more severe. The Palestinian factions are embarrassed because the Gazans understood that Israel was working on them, through the mediators, and they are working on the people.”