JERUSALEM: An Israeli aircraft on Tuesday hit what the military said was an armed Palestinian seen approaching the Israeli border fence in Gaza. "A short while ago, troops spotted an armed terrorist approaching the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip," an army statement said. An Israeli military "aircraft targeted him. A hit was identified," it added.
The statement did not confirm whether the man had been killed and the Palestinian health ministry in the Hamas-controlled strip had no immediate comment. Last month, Israeli forces assassinated a senior Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip, sparking a two-day flare-up which killed 36 Palestinians. Islamic Jihad fired around 450 rockets at Israel, many of which were intercepted by its Iron Dome defence system.
Meanwhile, Israel allowed the import of around 20 rescue and firefighting vehicles into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. The equipment, which was donated by Qatar, includes several SUVs fitted with water pumps. Gaza's Civil Defense previously had just 33 vehicles to serve the territory's 2 million people, including a single fire truck with a hydraulic platform.
Israel and Egypt have blockaded Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Raed al-Dahshan, a spokesman for Gaza's Civil Defense, said Tuesday's shipment was “unprecedented.” The Civil Defense said no firefighting equipment has been allowed into Gaza since 2007, and the last shipment of fire trucks was brought in by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in 1998. Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007, and Israel holds the Islamist movement responsible for all hostile activity coming from the territory, although it has also hit other militant groups there.
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