The Israeli Army on Wednesday targeted structures belonging to the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip after an explosion went off near the border.

The Israeli Defense Forces said in a post to Twitter the bomb that exploded against an army engineering vehicle in the west of the Gaza-Israel border left no injuries. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) - The Israeli military says it has struck several Hamas targets in Gaza after a bomb planted on the border exploded near Israeli troops.

The military says the explosive device was placed along the border fence area during protests that have been taking place there. It exploded near an Israeli bulldozer on Wednesday.

No one was wounded by the bomb, and there were no immediately reports on casualties from the retaliatory strikes.

Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from Gaza and will not allow the border area to become a combat zone.

Hamas has called for Palestinians to amass at the border as part of a weekslong campaign of protests against a decade-old Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the territory. Twenty-six protesters have been killed thus far. </s> The Israeli military says it has struck several Hamas targets in Gaza after a bomb planted on the border exploded near Israeli troops.

 The military says the explosive device was placed along the border fence area during protests that have been taking place there. It exploded near an Israeli bulldozer on Wednesday.

 No one was wounded by the bomb, and there were no immediately reports on casualties from the retaliatory strikes.

 Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from Gaza and will not allow the border area to become a combat zone.

 Hamas has called for Palestinians to amass at the border as part of a weekslong campaign of protests against a decade-old Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the territory.—Agencies </s> JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has struck several Hamas targets in Gaza after a bomb planted on the border exploded near Israeli troops.

The military says the explosive device was placed along the border fence area during protests that have been taking place there. It exploded near an Israeli bulldozer on Wednesday.

No one was wounded by the bomb, and there were no immediately reports on casualties from the retaliatory strikes.

Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from Gaza and will not allow the border area to become a combat zone.

Hamas has called for Palestinians to amass at the border as part of a weekslong campaign of protests against a decade-old Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the territory. Twenty-six protesters have been killed thus far. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it bombed Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip, hours after an explosive device detonated near an Israeli army vehicle along the Gaza-Israel border.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza confirmed that a Palestinian was killed and another man was seriously wounded in the strike early on Thursday.

The bombing came hours after an Israeli airstrike targeted Hamas training sites in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

Tensions are rising on the Gaza-Israel border as Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the coastal territory, has mobilized people for unprecedented weekly protests along the borders since March 30.

Thursday's fatality raises the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire over the past two weeks to 33. At least 26 were killed during protests. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) - The Israeli military says it bombed Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip, hours after an explosive device detonated near an Israeli army vehicle along the Gaza-Israel border.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza confirmed that a Palestinian was killed and another man was seriously wounded in the strike early on Thursday.

The bombing came hours after an Israeli airstrike targeted Hamas training sites in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

Tensions are rising on the Gaza-Israel border as Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the coastal territory, has mobilized people for unprecedented weekly protests along the borders since March 30.

Thursday's fatality raises the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire over the past two weeks to 33. At least 26 were killed during protests. </s> The Israeli military says it bombed Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip, hours after an explosive device detonated near an Israeli army vehicle along the Gaza-Israel border.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza confirmed that a Palestinian was killed and another man was seriously wounded in the strike early on Thursday.

The bombing came hours after an Israeli airstrike targeted Hamas training sites in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

Tensions are rising on the Gaza-Israel border as Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the coastal territory, has mobilized people for unprecedented weekly protests along the borders since March 30.

Thursday's fatality raises the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire over the past two weeks to 33. At least 26 were killed during protests. </s> The Israeli military says it bombed Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip, hours after an explosive device detonated near an Israeli army vehicle along the Gaza-Israel border.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza confirmed that a Palestinian was killed and another man was seriously wounded in the strike early on Thursday.

The bombing came hours after an Israeli airstrike targeted Hamas training sites in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

Tensions are rising on the Gaza-Israel border as Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the coastal territory, has mobilized people for unprecedented weekly protests along the borders since March 30.

Thursday’s fatality raises the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire over the past two weeks to 33. At least 26 were killed during protests. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military struck a Gaza observation post on Sunday, killing three Palestinian militants after the troops found a bomb planted along the border.

The military said a tank fired a shell at the militant position in southern Gaza after Israeli troops detonated an explosive device found along the security fence with Gaza that was meant to harm soldiers patrolling the frontier.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said three people were killed, and the Islamic Jihad militant group identified them as its members.

Gaza militants regularly plant explosives near the sensitive frontier, occasionally harming Israeli soldiers. On Saturday, militants briefly infiltrated Israel and set a fire. In response, Israel struck Hamas positions.

"We will not tolerate attacks against us from the Gaza Strip," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at his weekly Cabinet meeting. "The army and the security forces are working around the clock to protect the State of Israel, Israeli citizens and Israel's borders."

The violence comes at a tense time along the frontier. More than 110 Palestinians have been killed in weekly protests that began March 30 and are aimed at lifting an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007.

Hamas has vowed to continue the rallies. Israel says it is defending its border as well as its communities nearby. It accuses Hamas of trying to carry out attacks under the cover of protests. </s> An 18-year-old Palestinian man was killed and two others were moderately wounded after the IDF opened fire toward them in the southern Gaza Strip.



The three were near the border fence between Rafah and Israel on Tuesday night and were hit by tank fire after attempting to cross the border, the IDF said.

It is not clear why they were approaching the fence, but according to initial reports, the three appeared to IDF soldiers to be in the act of planting bombs.Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza, identified the 18-year-old as Yousef Abu Azra. He and the two wounded, no names given, were evacuated to the Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, in moderate and critical condition with shrapnel wounds over their bodies, according to the spokesman.The Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli artillery fire on east Rafah, with government spokesman Tariq Rishmawi calling on the international community “to put an end to the continued and premeditated Israeli aggressions on our people in all places that they exist.”The IDF said it was investigating the incident.Two weeks ago, two bombs were neutralized in an off-limits area in the northern Gaza Strip. The charges were taken in for further examination. There were no casualties in the incident.Hamas has recently built military outposts every dozen meters along the border with Israel and also carries out regular patrols, to both impose its control on the Strip by preventing Palestinians from crossing into Israel and to watch what is happening on the Israeli side.The incident comes as the military finished its largest planned drill of the year, calling up some 2,000 reserve soldiers to simulate a war in Gaza. The surprise drill, which was carried out by the Southern Command’s reserve division, the Sinai Division, included four reserve brigades – two infantry and two armored brigades. The IDF’s Home Front Command also carried out a drill this past week in the South.Despite tension between Israel and the Gaza Strip running high, the IDF said that both drills were planned in advance.The last two months have seen gunfire targeting IDF troops along the border as well as seven rockets launched at Israel.Most of the attacks have been claimed by small jihadist groups, often as a means of pressuring Hamas by raising tensions between the terrorist organization and Israel.Hamas has cracked down on these small groups, recently carrying out a series of arrests among Salafi, jihadist, pro-Islamic State organizations. Nonetheless, Israel holds Hamas responsible for all fire coming from the Strip.

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The Israeli Defence Forces say a bomb exploded near one of their construction vehicles near the Gazan border. In response, the IDF launches attacks on Hamas positions within the Gaza Strip.