Israeli air strikes target boat moored in Gaza city

23/5/2018 12:38

        Israeli aircraft destroyed a boat
        moored in Gaza city early on Wednesday morning, local residents
        said. There were no reports of casualties.
        
        The Israeli military said aircraft had struck "military
        targets belonging to the Hamas terror organization's naval
        force" and "underground terror infrastructure" belonging to
        Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip.
        
        The military said the air strikes were carried out in
        response to an incident on Tuesday when a group of men from Gaza
        broke through the border fence into Israel and set fire to an
        army post. An Israeli tank then targeted a Hamas observation
        post. No casualties were reported.
        
        Gaza residents said the vessel that was hit by missiles was
        set ablaze. They said it was due to sail to meet a flotilla of
        boats hoping to reach Gaza. Israel maintains a naval blockade of
        the Gaza Strip and has in the past stopped other boats from
        reaching it shores.
        
        Violence along the Israel-Gaza border reached a peak on May
        14 when Gaza medical sources said at least 60 Palestinian
        protesters were killed by Israeli gunfire. It has subsided but
        there are sporadic flare-ups.
        
        Since the border protests began on March 30, 110
        Palestinians have been killed, Gaza medical officials said.
        
        Gaza has been controlled since 2007 by the Islamist group
        Hamas. Israel and Egypt, citing security concerns, maintain a de
        facto blockade on Gaza, which has reduced its economy to a state
        of collapse.
        
        Two million Palestinians live in the narrow strip, most
        descendants of refugees who fled or were driven out of homes
        during fighting between Jewish and Arab forces at the time
        Israel was founded.