An Israeli army tank fired two shells into eastern Beit Lahiya in the northern besieged Gaza Strip on Monday morning, locals sources said, after a rocket landed in an open area in the Ashkelon region of southern Israel, according to the Israeli army. The cross-border fire came after locals in Gaza reported two separate incidents of Israeli forces opening fire at them.
The Israeli army confirmed in a statement after 10 a.m. that a tank fired into the northern Gaza Strip, claiming they were targeting a Hamas post, saying the artillery fire came in response to a projectile that was fired from Gaza about an hour earlier.
The Israeli army said the rocket landed in an open area in Ashkelon, reporting no injuries or damages.
Meanwhile, locals reported earlier Monday that Israeli forces fired at Palestinian locals and fishermen in two separate incidents, while Israeli bulldozers also made an incursion into central Gaza to level lands.
Despite the ceasefire agreement that ended the deadly 2014 war, Palestinians who work near the “buffer zone” often come under fire from military forces, as the Israeli military has not made clear the precise area of the designated zone.
Fishermen told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip and started pursuing them. No injuries or detentions were reported.
Separately, Israeli forces stationed at watchtowers opened fire at the southern Gaza towns of al-Qarara and Khuzaa east of Khan Yunis, without causing injuries.
Also Monday morning, Israeli military vehicles launched a limited incursion into lands east of the city of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that four Israeli bulldozers escorted by Israeli military vehicles set off from the Kissufim military base and staged an incursion, approximately 150 meters into eastern Deir al-Balah.
Eyewitnesses added that no shooting occurred during the incursion.
An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an they were looking into the three reports.
The Israeli incursions came a day after a Hamas fighter succumbed to wounds he sustained a day earlier in an “accidental explosion” in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement that 37-year-old Muhammad Walidal-Quqa had been involved in "jihadist activities, including manufacturing and assembling explosives."
Israeli officials have accused Hamas of "preparing" for another war with Israel and have threatened retaliatory measures against the Gaza Strip as a whole. However, despite Hamas' inflammatory rhetoric against Israel, the movement has not officially claimed responsibility for any military action from Gaza against Israel since the 2014 war.
