By Saeed Amouri
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA): Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire near Gaza Strip’s security fence, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Israeli army said its forces had fired toward armed suspects near the fence.
Israeli media reported that the Israeli military targeted a ‘Hamas observation post’ with artillery fire and a helicopter, killing three.
The three men have been identified as Mahmoud Adel al-Walayda, 24, Mohammad Farid Abu Namous, 27, and Mohammad Samir at-Taramisi, 26. A fourth Palestinian was seriously injured. All were taken to the Indonesia Hospital in Beit Lahia.
Last week, Israeli forces shot dead four Palestinians near the security fence for allegedly attempting to sneak into Israel.
Tension has risen along Gaza-Israel buffer zone in recent days with Israel accusing Gaza-based resistance factions of firing rockets from the Palestinian territory into Israel.
On Saturday, the Israeli army said three rockets had been fired from Gaza, two of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.
Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, reached an informal cease-fire in May after the worst bout of violence since 2014.
Palestinians have been staging weekly protests near Gaza border to demand an end to a 12-year Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has shattered the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of many basic amenities.
Since the Gaza rallies began last year, nearly 270 protesters have been martyred — and thousands more wounded — by Israeli troops deployed near the buffer zone.
Additional report from imemc.org
[Photo: Family members of 27-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Namus who was killed by Israeli army fire near Gaza Strip’s security fence, mourn during his funeral ceremony in Beit Lahia, Gaza on August 18, 2019. Photographer: Ali Jadallah/AA]