Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday of a "lethal" reaction if Palestinian armed groups resume hostilities as tensions rise over Gaza.

Netanyahu made the remarks after weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip ended on Tuesday when Israeli soldiers came under fire along the border in two separate incidents.

"Maybe there is someone in Gaza who thinks he can stick his head up; I suggest that they understand that the response will be lethal and very painful," Netanyahu said.

"We are ready for any scenario and escalation," he said, quoted by his office, after attending a military exercise at a base in Shizafon in southern Israel.

On Tuesday, Israeli tanks struck two Hamas positions in Gaza and killed a militant after an Israeli soldier was lightly injured when a bullet hit his helmet.

And overnight Israeli warplanes struck a camp of Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Palestinian enclave.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and fears of a fourth round remain although violence has abated since November as a result of an informal truce.</s>Israel Occoupation Force struck at least two Hamas military positions in northern Gaza on Tuesday evening in response to an earlier incident which saw an IOF officer lightly hurt by gunfire from the Strip.

Earlier Tuesday One Palestinian has been killed and two others have been injured in Israeli shelling in the besieged Gaza Strip amid weeks-long anti-occupation demonstrations.

The Gaza Health Ministry identified the victim as 24-year-old Mahmoud al-Abed al-Nabahin, who was killed after Israeli tanks fired into the northern part of Gaza on Tuesday.

The Israeli military claims it targeted a post belonging to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas after a group of Palestinians shot and injured an Israeli officer across the border with the occupied territories.

On Monday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at least 254 Palestinians had been killed and over 23,000 injured by IOF since the Great March of Return rallies began along the border on March 30, 2018.

Gaza has been under Israeli siege since June 2007, causing a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.

Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014 and ended in late August the same year. The Israeli military aggression killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and injured over 11,100 others.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a Qatari donation of $15 million for the Palestinian civil servants in the Gaza Strip that had been due on Wednesday as part of international efforts to head off a military confrontation.</s>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blocked millions in Qatari aid to the Gaza Strip in response to renewed border hostilities, risking increased tensions with Hamas during Israel’s election campaign. Weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip ended on Tuesday when Israeli soldiers were fired on along the border with the enclave in two separate incidents. Under the agreement, Israel has permitted Gulf state Qatar, a rare Hamas ally, to bring in aid to the strip, including $15 million a month to pay salaries of Hamas civil servants and provide aid to impoverished residents. The January payment had been expected to enter Gaza on Wednesday or Thursday but Netanyahu has decided to block it after the border-flare up, AFP reports, citing an Israeli official.</s>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian Islamist group Hamas Wednesday of a "lethal" reaction to any renewed Palestinian violence on the Gaza border, after blocking aid to the strip in response to the wounding of a soldier there.

Weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip ended Tuesday when Israeli soldiers were fired on along the border with the enclave in two separate incidents.

An officer was lightly wounded when a bullet hit his helmet.

In response Israeli tanks struck two Hamas positions in Gaza, killing one militant, while overnight Israeli warplanes struck what the army said was a Hamas military camp in northern Gaza.

Netanyahu responded by blocking $15 million of Qatari aid that was expected to be transferred to Gaza, and told Israeli soldiers he would respond with force to any further hostilities.

"Maybe there is someone in Gaza who thinks he can stick his head up; I suggest that they understand that the response will be lethal and very painful," Netanyahu said.

"We are ready for any scenario and escalation," he said at a military exercise in southern Israel, quoted by his office.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and fears of a fourth round remain.

However violence has abated since November as a result of an informal truce between the parties.

Under that agreement Israel has permitted Gulf state Qatar, a Hamas ally, to bring in aid to the strip, including $15 million a month to pay salaries of Hamas civil servants and assist impoverished residents.

The January payment had been expected to enter Gaza on Wednesday or Thursday but Netanyahu blocked it after the flare-up, an Israeli official confirmed.

This is the first time that Israel has admitted to obstructing the transfer, which was already delayed by two weeks.

The payment would be the third of six planned tranches, totalling $90 million, in connection with the truce.

Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory.

Hamas is labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, and banks are hesitant to make the transfer.

At the funeral of the Hamas fighter Wednesday, mourners called for revenge as the body was accompanied by members of Hamas's military wing.

Israel maintains a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip, the cramped territory wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

The Jewish state says it is necessary to isolate Hamas but critics say it amounts to collective punishment of the enclave's two million residents.

The Qatari payments are controversial in Israel, where they have sparked opposition from right-wing activists and politicians.

In November Israel's defence minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned after accusing Netanyahu of being soft on Hamas following a flare-up.

The right-wing premier is running for a fifth term in April 9 elections, having long portrayed himself as "Mr Security" to Israelis.

Widely shared images of suitcases of cash being sent into Gaza through Israel could prove awkward for Netanyahu.

The father of Hadar Goldin -- an Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza war and whose body Hamas is still believed to hold -- told army radio Tuesday he believes the funds are ultimately going to Hamas.

"That's what happens when you capitulate to terrorism," Simha Goldin said.

Gaza has seen weekly Hamas-backed demonstrations along the border since March 2018, with demonstrators calling for Palestinian refugees in Gaza to be able to return to their former lands now inside Israel.

Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out violence.

At least 244 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March, mostly during border clashes but also by tank fire and air strikes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Hamas said in a statement it "never accepts shedding the blood of the Palestinian people to fuel the Israeli elections advertising."

United Nations envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned Tuesday that living conditions in Gaza remained desperate and the risk of new conflict was high.

"There is no status quo; there is only a deterioration that, if left unchecked, without a vision and the political will for peace, can only lead to endless conflict," he told the UN Security Council.</s>Tear gas canisters falling amidst Palestinian protesters during clashes with Israeli forces across the border fence, following a demonstration along the border with Israel east of Gaza City on Friday (AFP photo)

DOHA — A third Qatari cash donation for impoverished Gaza civil servants will be made this week after it was held back by Israel in protest at Palestinian border violence, a Qatari diplomat said on Sunday.

Qatar in November began a six-month, $150 million programme to fund civil servant wages and shipments of fuel for power generation in Gaza, offering a measure of reprieve to the blockaded enclave under the control of Hamas.

Qatar hopes the aid will ease conditions and restore stability, part of efforts to bolster its international standing amid a diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbours.

Speaking from his office in Doha, Mohammed Al Emadi, head of Qatar’s Gaza Strip Reconstruction Committee, said the latest $15 million wage payment was initially withheld by Israel but would now arrive on Wednesday.

“Due to the violence on the border, the Israeli government postponed it. The agreement is subject to there not being too much violence, so last Friday they [Israel] approved to do the third tranche,” Emadi told Reuters.

Gaza’s health ministry has said more than 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since March at border protests demanding an end to an Israeli-led blockade of the coastal strip.

Emadi said wage payments would not be physically carried by him in cash into Gaza as with previous disbursements but that a new system had been arranged. He declined to specify how it would work.

Cogat, the Israeli government agency coordinating the Gaza aid, declined to comment.

Emadi said Qatar would next push for a roughly $80 million electricity project that would have it effectively manage the strip’s power supply, buying Israeli electricity in bulk and distributing it across Gaza while collecting payment from Palestinians in return.

“We will fund this project but I want to make sure I have control of the electricity so I can get my money back,” he said of the plan, which would see Qatar build a power substation and network to end the need for costly fuel shipments.

“We need to find a solution for these 2 million people — this is our aim and goal. Not just to deliver money because Israel wants quiet or Hamas wants money.”</s>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday of a "lethal" reaction if Palestinian armed groups resume hostilities as tensions rise over Gaza.

Netanyahu made the remarks after weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip ended on Tuesday when Israeli soldiers came under fire along the border in two separate incidents.

"Maybe there is someone in Gaza who thinks he can stick his head up; I suggest that they understand that the response will be lethal and very painful," Netanyahu said.

"We are ready for any scenario and escalation," he said, quoted by his office, after attending a military exercise at a base in Shizafon in southern Israel.

On Tuesday, Israeli tanks struck two Hamas positions in Gaza and killed a militant after an Israeli soldier was lightly injured when a bullet hit his helmet.

And overnight Israeli warplanes struck a camp of Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Palestinian enclave.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and fears of a fourth round remain although violence has abated since November as a result of an informal truce.</s>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blocked millions in Qatari aid to the Gaza Strip in response to renewed border hostilities, despite the fact that the besieged enclave has faced worsening humanitarian conditions.

Weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip ended on Tuesday when Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza that targeted a Hamas post, saying the attacks came after shots were fired at Israeli troops near the Israel-Gaza buffer zone. Netanyahu yesterday warned Palestinian resistance group Hamas of a "destructive and painful response," according to The Jerusalem Post newspaper. "There may be someone in Gaza who thought they could raise their heads, we are ready for any scenario and escalation," Netanyahu said during a visit to a military base in southern Israel.

Israel and the Hamas resistance group have fought three wars since 2008 and fears of a fourth round remain. However violence has abated since November as a result of an informal truce between the parties.

Under that agreement Israel has permitted Gulf state Qatar to bring in aid to the strip, including $15 million a month to pay the salaries of Hamas civil servants and provide aid to impoverished residents. The January payment had been expected to enter Gaza yesterday or today, but Netanyahu has decided to block it after the border-flare up, an Israeli official confirmed.

This is the first time that Israel has admitted to obstructing the transfer, which was already delayed by two weeks. The payment would be the third of six planned tranches, totaling $90 million, in connection with the truce. Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory. The truck that entered Gaza brought the first delivery out of a $60 million fuel donation by Qatar meant to provide the power plant with enough fuel to operate for six months, local sources said, as Israel's long blockade of the Gaza Strip has created chronic shortages in Palestinian health facilities.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has suffered under a crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade that has gutted its economy and deprived its inhabitants of many vital commodities, including food, fuel and medicine. The cash-starved plant has been providing Gazans with only around four hours of electricity daily.</s>Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip has killed a Palestinian militant and wounded four others shortly after an Israeli soldier was shot on the border of the coastal enclave, authorities say.

Following the incident, Israel said it would halt a key transfer of Qatari funds to the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said that an officer was lightly wounded after a bullet hit his helmet "during a riot in the southern Gaza Strip" and that Israeli tanks fired at a Hamas militant position in response.

The Gaza health ministry confirmed that the shelling killed a 24-year-old man and injured four people, one seriously.

Mahmoud al-Nabahin was a member of Hamas' armed wing known as the Qassam Brigades, the group said in a statement.

Later on Tuesday, Israeli aircraft carried out multiple strikes on a Hamas military site in northern Gaza Strip, saying the Islamic group bears responsibility for violence emanating from the territory, Israel's military said in a statement. There were no reports of casualties.

The violence escalated tensions at a sensitive time for both Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel.

A senior Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to halt Wednesday's planned transfer of $US15 million ($20.95 million) in Qatari funds for Hamas to pay salaries for civil servants.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Netanyahu has previously stipulated that the cash injection was contingent upon calm along the Gaza border.

For months, Hamas has held weekly protests along several sections of the Gaza-Israel perimeter fence, driven largely by economic hardship caused by the 11-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza.

Qatar, a go-between for Hamas and Israel, is trying to mitigate the crisis in Gaza and consequently quieting the protests to prevent an all-out war between Gaza militants and Israel.

Since they were launched in March, more than 185 Palestinians were killed in the demonstrations. An Israeli soldier was shot dead in July by a Gaza sniper.</s>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blocked millions in Qatari aid to the Gaza Strip in response to renewed border hostilities, risking increased tensions with the Palestinian territory's Islamist rulers Hamas during Israel's election campaign.

Weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip ended Tuesday when Israeli soldiers were fired on along the border with the enclave in two separate incidents.

One soldier was lightly injured when a bullet hit his helmet.

In response Israeli tanks struck two Hamas positions in Gaza, killing one militant, while overnight Israeli fighter jets struck what the army said was a Hamas military camp in northern Gaza.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and fears of a fourth round remain.

However violence has abated since November as a result of an informal truce between the parties.

Under that agreement Israel has permitted Gulf state Qatar, a rare Hamas ally, to bring in aid to the strip, including $15 million a month to pay salaries of Hamas civil servants and provide aid to impoverished residents.

The January payment had been expected to enter Gaza on Wednesday or Thursday but Netanyahu has decided to block it after the border-flare up, an Israeli official confirmed.

This is the first time that Israel has admitted to obstructing the transfer, which was already delayed by two weeks.

The payment would be the third of six planned tranches, totalling $90 million, in connection with the truce.

Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory.

Hamas is labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, and banks are hesitant to make the transfer.

So far Hamas has stuck to indirect warnings against Israel but said Wednesday it held Israel fully responsible for any escalation.

At the funeral of the Hamas fighter Wednesday, mourners called for revenge as the body was accompanied by members of Hamas's military wing.

Israel maintains a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip, the cramped territory wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

The Jewish state says it is necessary to isolate Hamas but critics say it amounts to collective punishment of the enclave's two million residents.

The Qatari payments are controversial in Israel, where they have sparked opposition from right-wing activists and politicians.

In November Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned after accusing Netanyahu of being soft on Hamas following a flare-up.

The rightwing premier is now fighting a campaign ahead of April 9 elections, having long portrayed himself as "Mr Security" to Israelis.

Widely shared images of suitcases of cash being sent into Gaza through Israel could prove awkward for Netanyahu, running for a fifth term despite corruption allegations.

The father of Hadar Goldin -- an Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza war and whose body Hamas is still believed to hold -- told army radio Tuesday he believes the funds are ultimately going to Hamas.

"That's what happens when you capitulate to terrorism," Simha Goldin said.

The Gaza Strip came close to a new conflict a number of times in 2018, with Hamas-backed demonstrations along the border throughout the year.

The weekly protests have been calling for Palestinian refugees in Gaza to be able to return to their former lands now inside Israel.

Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out violence.

At least 244 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March, mostly during border clashes but also by tank fire and airstrikes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Hamas said in a statement it "never accepts shedding the blood of the Palestinian people to fuel the Israeli elections advertising."

United Nations envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned Tuesday that the living conditions in Gaza remained desperate and the risk of new conflict was high.

"There is no status quo; there is only a deterioration that, if left unchecked, without a vision and the political will for peace, can only lead to endless conflict and the steady rise of radicalisation on all sides," he told the UN Security Council.</s>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian Islamist group Hamas Wednesday of a "lethal" reaction to any renewed Palestinian violence on the Gaza border, after blocking aid to the strip in response to the wounding of a soldier there.

Weeks of relative calm in the Gaza Strip ended Tuesday when Israeli soldiers were fired on along the border with the enclave in two separate incidents.

An officer was lightly wounded when a bullet hit his helmet.

In response Israeli tanks struck two Hamas positions in Gaza, killing one militant, while overnight Israeli warplanes struck what the army said was a Hamas military camp in northern Gaza.

Netanyahu responded by blocking $15 million of Qatari aid that was expected to be transferred to Gaza, and told Israeli soldiers he would respond with force to any further hostilities.

"Maybe there is someone in Gaza who thinks he can stick his head up; I suggest that they understand that the response will be lethal and very painful," Netanyahu said.

"We are ready for any scenario and escalation," he said at a military exercise in southern Israel, quoted by his office.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and fears of a fourth round remain.

However violence has abated since November as a result of an informal truce between the parties.

Under that agreement Israel has permitted Gulf state Qatar, a Hamas ally, to bring in aid to the strip, including $15 million a month to pay salaries of Hamas civil servants and assist impoverished residents.

The January payment had been expected to enter Gaza on Wednesday or Thursday but Netanyahu blocked it after the flare-up, an Israeli official confirmed.

This is the first time that Israel has admitted to obstructing the transfer, which was already delayed by two weeks.

The payment would be the third of six planned tranches, totalling $90 million, in connection with the truce.

Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory.

Hamas is labelled a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, and banks are hesitant to make the transfer.

At the funeral of the Hamas fighter Wednesday, mourners called for revenge as the body was accompanied by members of Hamas's military wing.

Israel maintains a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip, the cramped territory wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.

The Jewish state says it is necessary to isolate Hamas but critics say it amounts to collective punishment of the enclave's two million residents.

The Qatari payments are controversial in Israel, where they have sparked opposition from right-wing activists and politicians.

In November Israel's defence minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned after accusing Netanyahu of being soft on Hamas following a flare-up.

The right-wing premier is running for a fifth term in April 9 elections, having long portrayed himself as "Mr Security" to Israelis.

Widely shared images of suitcases of cash being sent into Gaza through Israel could prove awkward for Netanyahu.

The father of Hadar Goldin -- an Israeli soldier killed in the 2014 Gaza war and whose body Hamas is still believed to hold -- told army radio Tuesday he believes the funds are ultimately going to Hamas.

"That's what happens when you capitulate to terrorism," Simha Goldin said.

Gaza has seen weekly Hamas-backed demonstrations along the border since March 2018, with demonstrators calling for Palestinian refugees in Gaza to be able to return to their former lands now inside Israel.

Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as cover to carry out violence.

At least 244 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March, mostly during border clashes but also by tank fire and air strikes.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Hamas said in a statement it "never accepts shedding the blood of the Palestinian people to fuel the Israeli elections advertising."

United Nations envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned Tuesday that living conditions in Gaza remained desperate and the risk of new conflict was high.

"There is no status quo; there is only a deterioration that, if left unchecked, without a vision and the political will for peace, can only lead to endless conflict," he told the UN Security Council.
An Israeli spokesman says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled Wednesday's Qatari aid of $15 million to Gaza Strip.