</s>Clashes erupted as tens of thousands of Gazans marched near the Israeli border in a major protest today, leaving 15 Palestinians dead and hundreds more wounded in the conflict’s worst single day of violence since the 2014 Gaza war. Late in the day, Israel’s military targeted three Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip with tank fire and an air strike after what it said was an attempted shooting attack against soldiers along the border that caused no injuries. Protesters, including women and children, had earlier gathered at multiple sites throughout the blockaded territory, which is flanked by Israel along its eastern and northern borders. Smaller numbers approached within a few hundred metres of the heavily fortified border fence, with Israeli troops using tear gas and live fire to force them back. Israeli security forces also used a drone to fire tear gas toward those along the border, in one of the first uses of the device, a police spokesman said. The health ministry in Gaza said 15 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. More than 1,400 were injured, including 758 by live fire, with the remainder hurt by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation, it said. Palestinians accused Israel of using disproportionate force, as did Turkey. Egypt, which has a border with Gaza, issued a foreign ministry statement saying it “denounces the use of force against civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories”. The Cairo-based Arab League condemned what it called Israel’s “savagery”.

Israel’s military alleged that the main protests were being used as cover by militants to either break through the border or carry out attacks. “It is not a peaceful demonstration,” an Israeli military official told journalists. “There was no small number of attempts to damage the fence and cross” the border, she added. The army said it estimated some 30,000 demonstrators were taking part in the protests. “Rioters are rolling burning tyres and hurling firebombs and rocks at the security fence and at (Israeli) troops, who are responding with riot dispersal means and firing towards main instigators,” it said. Protesters were demanding hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948 be allowed to return. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya attended the protest, believed to be the first time he had gone so close to the border in years. Hamas and Israel have fought three wars since 2008, the most recent of which in 2014 ended with a fragile truce. Far smaller protests broke out in parts of the occupied West Bank.

This evening, Gazan leaders called on protesters to retreat from the border area until tomorrow, with the demonstration planned to extend six weeks, until the inauguration of the new US embassy in Jerusalem around May 14. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas declared Saturday a day of national mourning. The upcoming embassy move has added to tensions surrounding the march. US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December has infuriated Palestinians, who claim its annexed eastern sector as the capital of their future state. The protest also began as Jewish Israelis were to mark the Passover holiday. Israel announced a “closed military zone in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip,” accusing its Islamist rulers Hamas of using the lives of civilians “for the purpose of terror”.

It deployed reinforcements, including more than 100 special forces snipers, for fear of mass attempts to break through the security fence. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in tweet directed to Gazans in both Hebrew and Arabic that “Hamas’s leadership is playing with your life”. Protests along the border are common, often culminating in young Palestinian men throwing stones at Israeli soldiers who respond with tear gas, and rubber and live bullets. The “March of Return” protest is different because it is intended to include families with women and children camping near the border for weeks. Five main camp sites have been set up spanning the length of the frontier, from near the Erez border crossing in the north to Rafah where it meets the Egyptian border in the south. Cultural events were planned in the larger communal tents, including traditional Palestinian dabke dancing, while tens of thousands of meals were to be handed out today, organisers said.

A young couple were married near one of the camps on yesterday evening. Saeed Juniya had erected a small tent a few hundred metres from the border fence east of Gaza City, where he was accompanied by his wife and children. “We are determined and not scared as we are not doing something wrong. The people are demanding their land and to return to their country,” he said. Organisers say the camps will remain in place until May 15 when Palestinians commemorate the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, of the 1948 creation of Israel with the exodus of more than 700,000 Palestinians. According to the UN, some 1.3 million of Gaza’s two million residents are refugees and the protest is calling for them to be allowed to return to land that is now Israel. Washington’s plans to launch its new embassy to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Israeli state, further stoking Palestinian anger.</s>European groups recently passed on to Hamas a wide-reaching proposition to solve the Humanitarian crises in Gaza, The Jerusalem Post's sister publication Maariv reported on Monday. 



If accepted, Hamas would relinquish armed struggle against Israel for at least five years. In exchange, an EU-created institution would pay the salaries of the Gaza strip civic administration and run all humanitarian affairs there. 





While the concept of connecting together wide-scale humanitarian and financial aid to Gaza with Hamas rejecting terrorism and violence is not new, this offer is unique for including an assumption of comprehensive authorities by a European body that would operate in the Gaza strip.For Hamas, it may be tempting that the financial aid for health, education and developing public administration would come directly from a European body and not via the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, currently controlled by Mahmoud Abbas, as is currently the practice.Another important aspect of the European proposal is that it marks a different direction form that of the Palestinian effort of national reconciliation. The report says that the offer is meant to provide a possible scenario should Abbas make good on his threat to withdraw all support to the Gaza strip under Hamas. The Hamas negotiation team is reportedly still studying the European offer before responding to it.It is also possible that the European offer is useful for Hamas as it provides them with one more bargaining chip as negotiations with Abbas, conducted with the help of Egypt, continue with the eventual goal of national Palestinian reconciliation.In a round of talks held in the Gaza strip on Saturday, Hamas refused to the demands made by Abbas and passed on by the Egyptian negotiation team. The demands were that the security, legal and tax collecting powers in the Gaza strip be handed over to the PA as a condition for national reconciliation.Hamas also insisted that the Hamas delegation set to meet in Cairo next week to continue the negotiations will be composed of Hamas Political Bureau members residing in Lebanon and Qatar and not those based in the Gaza strip. It would seem this is Hamas making a statement that matters on the ground, such as the weekly protests along the Israel-Gaza border, are too pressing to send Gaza-based staff abroad for negotiations. Hamas has refused to comply with Egyptian requests to halt these protest marches.</s>The IDF struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip Saturday, as IAF fighter jets targeted a "terrorist infrastructure" near the Gaza-Egypt border. Since December, the IDF has been targeting terrorist tunnels inside the Gaza strip with targeted attacks, often in response to rocket fire. IDF forces are believed to have destroyed four terror tunnels since late October, targeting one in October, one in December, and two in January.



Palestinian media reports the strike targeted a tunnel. 





In early January Israel struck what is referred to as “significant terror infrastructure” in the southern Gaza Strip following three mortar shells which were fired towards Israel. 



A statement released by the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit stated that the airstrikes targeted a “central terror infrastructure” and while Israel holds Hamas responsible for everything that occurs in the Strip, the statement did not mention the group ruling the enclave.



The IDF also did not elaborate on the exact nature of the target struck except saying that “the IDF will continue to use all the measures at its disposal, above and below ground, to thwart attacks against Israelis,” adding that it is “prepared and ready for a variety of scenarios

The IDF announced earlier this evening it would be closing the Kerem Shalom crossing after an assessment of the current security situation, but did not provide further details.In December, both the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings into Israel were closed "in light of security events." Earlier this week, a Gaza Strip resident was killed during protests at the border fence with Israel. "The terrorist organization Hamas is responsible for everything happening in and out of the Gaza Strip," the statement said.More than 40 projectiles have been fired at southern Israel since US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on December 6.Several have been intercepted, including one over Ashkelon some 20 kilometers from Gaza, and a number have slammed into Israeli territory.Retaliation by the IDF, usually in the form of artillery fire and/or air strikes, often targets Hamas outposts which tend to be evacuated by the terrorist group before the strikes.Israel’s military has been investing extensive effort in locating cross-border tunnels from Gaza and has been building a ground-breaking underground barrier across the entire border with the Hamas-run enclave. In November, head of the Southern Command Maj.- Gen. Eyal Zamir stated that while the barrier is being built entirely in Israeli territory, “this wall can potentially lead to a dangerous escalation.”In addition to the underground barrier, the IDF also has a new system to detect and destroy tunnels – a collaboration between advanced technology and various engineering, intelligence and ground forces units.Since late October, Israel has discovered two cross-border attack tunnels, one belonging to Hamas and one belonging to Islamic Jihad, inside Israeli territory, and it is likely that the strikes on Thursday targeted one such tunnel belonging to one of the groups inside the Gaza Strip.In addition, three Palestinians who crossed the border fence from Gaza were arrested Saturday evening.Maj. General Yoav (Poli) Mordechai blamed Hamas for sending young Palestinians to protest on the Gaza border in a tweet Saturday morning, writing, "The Hamas terrorist organization sends young #Palestinian civilians to engage in violent protests on the border of #Gaza, equipping them with Hamas manufactured hand grenades. Meanwhile, Hamas hides behind these youth and claims that the protests are spontaneous and nonviolent."The IDF announced last week that more rockets were fired at Israel in 2017 than in the prior two years</s>DUBAI (Reuters) - The deputy head of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas vowed to keep close ties with Israel's arch-enemy Iran and to maintain its weapons, Iranian media reported on Sunday, rejecting Israeli preconditions for any peace talks.

Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by Western countries and Israel, signed a reconciliation deal this month with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. 

 "Undoubtedly, the Palestinian resistance forces will never give up ... their arms," the semi-official news agency Mehr quoted Saleh Arouri as saying at a meeting with the Iranian parliament's speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran. 

 Israel said on Tuesday it would not hold peace negotiations with a Palestinian government dependent on Hamas and demanded that Hamas recognize Israel, disarm, and sever its ties with Iran.

 "Our presence in Iran is the practical denial of the third pre-condition -- cutting ties with Iran," Arouri said earlier, quoted by Iran's Fars news agency.

 In August, a Hamas leader said that Iran was again its biggest provider of money and arms after years of tension over the civil war in Syria. Hamas had angered Tehran by refusing to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the six-year-old civil war.

 Hamas seeks Israel's destruction. It has fought three wars with Israel since seizing the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Western-backed President Abbas in 2007.

 

 (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra)</s>A massive tunnel built by the Hamas terror group in northern Gaza — the “longest and deepest” one ever found — has been destroyed after the Israeli military infiltrated the territory, officials said.

The passage near Nahal Oz was reported to be connected to a network of other tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

“A tunnel in which millions of dollars were invested, money that instead of relieving the strain on residents, was buried in the sand,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said after the tunnel was sealed up this weekend. “Residents of Gaza, Hamas is burning your money on tunnels to nowhere. We will get our hands on all of them.”

Israel had been monitoring construction of the tunnel network for years but decided to move in after tunnel diggers began working their way up to the surface, a military spokesman told The Times of Israel.

“This was clearly a terror tunnel that connected to other tunnels in the Gaza Strip,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said. “It extended into Israel and violated Israeli sovereignty.”

The tunnel went through a border section that Hamas, especially in the last two weeks, has turned “into an area of terror and fighting,” Israel’s military said.

It also was the fifth tunnel from Gaza to Israel that has been destroyed in recent months, according to Conricus, and it reportedly extended tens of yards into Israeli territory.

“The [Israeli Defense Forces] doesn’t seek an escalation. We are defending our borders,” Conricus told The Times of Israel. “We will not tolerate or allow Hamas to turn the border area into an active combat zone.”

Conricus said the tunnel was adjacent to the site of recent mass protests, which Israel says Hamas is using as a cover for attacks.

In the last two weeks, 28 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded by Israeli fire. The marches have been organized by Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, but large turnouts on two preceding Fridays were also driven by Gaza’s dire living conditions and desperation among the territory’s 2 million residents, who have been enduring a crippling border closure by Israel and Egypt since 2007, according to the Associated Press.

Conricus said Hamas began building the tunnel following the 2014 war. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. During the most recent conflict in 2014, Israel destroyed 32 tunnels.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Israel says it destroys Hamas tunnel network in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Sunday it has destroyed a Gaza attack tunnel built by Hamas militants that penetrated Israeli territory.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the new Hamas tunnel was connected to a network dug in the northern Gaza Strip and entered Israel near the Israeli community of Nahal Oz. It's the fifth such Hamas tunnel Israel has destroyed in as many months.

Conricus said the tunnel was adjacent to the site of recent mass protests, which Israel says Hamas is using as a cover for attacks.

Conricus said Hamas began building the tunnel following the 2014 war. Israel has placed a high priority on halting the tunnel threat since Hamas infiltrated Israel during the war. Although they did not manage to reach civilian areas, the infiltrations caught Israel off guard, with one attack killing five soldiers, and terrified the local population.

In two weeks of protests, 28 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded by Israeli fire. The marches have been organized by Gaza's militant Hamas rulers, but large turnouts on two preceding Fridays were also driven by Gaza's dire living conditions and desperation among the territory's 2 million residents, who have been enduring a crippling border closure by Israel and Egypt since 2007.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said this was the longest and deepest tunnel Israel has discovered thus far.

"It's a tunnel that cost millions of dollars to dig, money that instead of going to ease the hardship of Gaza's residents has sunk in the sand," he said. "Residents of Gaza: Hamas is burning your money on tunnels to nowhere."

Hamas had no immediate comment.

Israel is erecting a subterranean barrier to detect and prevent attack tunnels. Israel says the barrier, as well as new technological innovations, have rendered the Hamas tunnel project futile.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. During the most recent conflict in 2014, Israel destroyed 32 tunnels.</s>ALONG THE ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER (AP) — The flareup of deadly violence in Gaza is of a new kind, even in the inventive annals of Mideast conflicts: Israeli soldiers shooting at Palestinian demonstrators burning tires and hurling firebombs across what looks like an international border, inflicting casualties while claiming concerns of a mass breach of the barrier.

But viewed another way, it's just the latest reflection of basic facts on the ground: the situation for the 2 million people of Gaza is extraordinarily harsh and difficult to resolve. It's not surprising so many would risk death by converging on the border fence, which has now happened three Fridays in a row, with dozens killed and hundreds injured.

By and large the people of Gaza — over two-thirds of them descended from refugees from what is now Israel — cannot leave their tiny strip of arid land along the Mediterranean coast. Anger toward Israel runs deep, yet dependence is great.

Israel blocks Gazans to the north and east, controlling who and what goes in and out. It blockades their waters to the west and prevents construction of sea and airports, with Egypt completing the blockade to the south.

Israel's argument is that Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, will use materials that come into the strip for building rockets, making bombs and digging attack tunnels. The fear is well-founded.

Israel also severely restricts Gazans leaving the territory in a policy it defends on security grounds, but which often looks punitive. Every exit, even to cross Israel en route to Jordan and beyond for medical, academic, professional or personal purposes, requires the approval of Israel — or Egypt, where the anti-Islamist government also deeply distrusts Hamas.

Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, expelled by Hamas from Gaza in 2007, largely control power supplies. There are just a few hours of electricity a day.

Hamas remains committed to conflict with Israel, and attempts to pressure the population against Hamas are questionable. Gazans simply don't have the means to overthrow the well-armed group, even if they so wanted.

Meanwhile, half the strip's workforce is unemployed. Much of the vast destruction from the last war with Israel, in 2014, still has not been rebuilt. Public entertainment is almost nonexistent and alcohol, in the name of Islam, is banned.

Adding insult to injury, the Palestinians do not have a currency. The few bills of cash in Gazan pockets are Israeli shekels emblazoned with the likenesses of Jewish religious and Zionist political figures.

Hamas says the border protests will continue through May 15, the anniversary of Israel's founding and the "nabka" (catastrophe) for the Palestinians — a day of mourning to mark the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of people who fled or were expelled from their homes during the war surrounding Israel's creation. It has signaled it may attempt a mass border breach, just as Israel fears. With Israel digging in its heels, and only muted debate in Israel over the high casualty count, bloodshed is likely to continue.

Here's a look at how the players in this tragic scenario have reached this point:

Hamas rose to global prominence with 1990s suicide bombings aimed at scuttling the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, killing hundreds of Israelis. It built up a formidable arsenal of rockets and other weapons. Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, removing all troops and settlers after a 38-year presence, cleared the way for Hamas to violently seize control of Gaza in 2007 from its rival, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, a year after winning elections.

Israel, which along with its Western allies considers Hamas a terrorist group, blockaded the territory along with Egypt, battering the meager economy. Jobs are hard to come by, Gaza's beaches are polluted by untreated sewage and tap water is undrinkable. Hamas, meanwhile, stifles dissent, bans public gatherings and promotes its conservative Islamic values.

Hamas also has fought three wars with Israel, sparked in part by sustained rocket fire on Israel. Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community have called on Hamas to disarm. But the group, founded in the late 1980s as a branch of the regionwide Muslim Brotherhood, has held on to its violent ideology, even as conditions deteriorate.

Israel claims some humanitarian credit for keeping border crossings open, allowing food, consumer goods and some construction materials to flow into the territory and some Gazans to leave. But sweeping export restrictions cripple the economy, and getting a travel permit is extremely difficult. Applicants are often called in for interrogations by Israel's Shin Bet security agency. Many are rejected on vague security grounds without explanation.

Israel says it does its best to ease the blockade given the security challenges. It accuses Hamas of trying to exploit and recruit civilians — a charge Hamas reciprocates against Israel.

During the three wars over the past decade, Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hamas, but also came under intense international criticism for the high civilian death toll and vast damage to Gaza's infrastructure. Toppling Hamas seems unlikely and the prospect of another war, with its uncertain results, has little appeal to Israel — as does renewed full occupation.

For years, Egypt played a double game with Gaza, restricting travel through its borders while tolerating a thriving cross-border smuggling industry. This allowed Hamas to sneak in weapons and consumer goods, enriching supporters who operated the tunnels and undermining the Israeli blockade.

Since taking power in 2014, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has taken a tougher line. He cracked down on the smuggling and largely shuttered Gaza's border crossing with Egypt, traditionally the main exit point for Gazans traveling abroad. Last year, the border was open for just over 30 days.

Egypt has defended its actions on security grounds, noting it's fighting an Islamic insurgency in Sinai, along Gaza's border. At times, it has accused Hamas of aiding militants in Egypt.

But el-Sissi's tough policies and close security relations with Israel have hurt his credibility as a broker between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Repeated reconciliation attempts, sponsored by Egypt, have failed.

For years, President Mahmoud Abbas, based in the West Bank, tried to retain influence in Gaza by paying salaries to tens of thousands of former civil servants and funding fuel shipments from Israel to generate Gaza's electricity. The unintended result: Abbas provided a safety net that helped keep Hamas in power.

A frustrated Abbas has taken a tougher line over the past year, scaling back electricity subsidies, reducing salaries of his former employees and now threatening to cut them off altogether.

These tough measures have added to the hardship in Gaza but had little effect on Hamas. A renewed attempt at reconciliation has deadlocked over Hamas' refusal to disarm, collapsing last month after a bombing on the convoy of Abbas' prime minister during a stop in Gaza.

Much of the international donor community has boycotted Hamas, branded as a terrorist group. But it has also poured hundreds of millions of dollars of humanitarian aid into Gaza, at times at Israel's request, in effect propping up Hamas. With little to show for their efforts, weary donors have scaled back their contributions in recent years and given a lukewarm response to Israel's latest appeal to send more aid.

The U.S. has also cut some $300 million in money for UNWRA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Over half of Gaza's people rely on UNRWA for assistance. The agency is now scrambling to try to make up the funding gap, raising the danger of a new humanitarian crisis.

Federman, the AP's bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories, has covered the region since 2003. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/joseffederman . Perry, who reported from Cairo, is the AP's Middle East editor and has covered the region since the 1990s. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/perry_dan .

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>GAZA CITY:Five Palestinians were injured by Israeli fire along the Gaza border Wednesday, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said, with tensions high over recent protests and clashes there.

The five were injured by Israeli artillery fire east of Khan Yunis, the ministry said.

 It said the men were on a base belonging to the military wing of Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas when they were struck.

The Israeli army confirmed it had fired on five Palestinians it said had approached the border.

In a statement, the army said at least one of the men was armed. It did not provide details on what type of fire its soldiers used.

The Gaza border has seen protests and clashes since March 30.

At least 34 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli fire since the protests began. There have been no Israeli casualties.

Israel says it only opens fire when necessary to stop damage to the fence, infiltrations and attempts at attacks.

Palestinians say protesters are being shot while posing no threat to soldiers, while the European Union and UN chief Antonio Guterres have called for an independent investigation.

Israel has rejected calls for an independent probe, saying its open-fire rules are necessary to defend the border.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 and the Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for more than a decade.—AFP</s>Israeli tanks hit two Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip today after activists set fire to the base of the security fence on the volatile frontier, the army said.

The army said the two suspected arsonists had not crossed the fence and infiltrated Israel but it retaliated with tank fire against two Hamas observation posts.

“The (army) views with great severity any attempt to damage the security fence, as well as security infrastructure,” it said.

The incident comes a day after Israeli soldiers detained three Palestinians who had slipped across the border from Gaza in possession of knives and grenades.

The army said the trio were apprehended near an army base some 20 kilometres (12 miles) inside Israel, while police distributed pictures of hand grenades, knives and wire cutters found on them.

There had already been an uptick in incidents along the border as Palestinian anger runs high over US President Donald Trump’s decision in December to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

On Saturday, a number of Palestinians breached the frontier and tried to torch heavy equipment. In response, Israeli jets attacked positions of Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.

A day later gunfire from Gaza set off Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system and in response, a tank fired at a Hamas position.

The incidents come as Israel braces for the annual Palestinian Land Day protests, commemorating the killing of six unarmed Arab demonstrators in Israel in 1976, set to begin in Gaza on Friday.

Gazans are being called to march towards the border fence en masse.
Egypt invites rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas to meet in Cairo in a bid to halt violent protests at the Israeli-Gazan border.