03-Apr-18: On Israel's Gaza border, more clashes today and a death

Today's Gazan attackers approach the border fence
[Video grab from the IDF surveillance video clip mentioned in the post]

There's no reason to expect the provocative efforts undertaken by Hamas and the consequent seriously raised tensions on the Gaza Strip's border with Israel to abate in the foreseeable future. The widespread criticism of Israel that erupted after 16 Palestinian Arabs were killed while rioting there this past weekend amount to the fulfillment of a dream for the Islamist terrorist organization. Their plan, by and large, is working. It's being marketed as “Return Marches” and set to continue, says Hamas, weekly into May.

No major surprise then that violent riots occurred throughout today (Tuesday) in four locations along the Gaza Strip barrier.

IDF forces used crowd dispersal measures and fired at suspects who attempted to breach the perimeter fence.The IDF says its soldiers today (Tuesday) used live fire against a group of Palestinian Arabs who succeeded in getting through the security fence. According to Times of Israel, one of the men in the group was shot dead:

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry identified the dead man as 25-year-old Ahmed Arafa, saying he was shot in the chest during clashes east of Bureij in central Gaza. The military wing of the DFLP terrorist group identified him as a member.

From Wikipedia:

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) (Arabic: 'الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين', transliterated Al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiya Li-Tahrir Filastin) is a Palestinian Marxist–Leninist, secular political and militant organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah (الجبهة الديموقراطية). It is a member organization of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The group maintains a para-military wing called the National Resistance Brigades. Although the National Resistance Brigades have fighters based in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, these fighters have been engaged in relatively few military operations since the Second Intifada. The National Resistance Brigades continue to take part in training exercises at paramilitary camps near Rafah and Khan Yunis. One of the attacks for which the DFLP is best known is the 1974 Ma'alot massacre in which 25 schoolchildren and teachers were killed... The DFLP is believed to receive limited financial and military aid from Syria, where it is active in the Palestinian refugee camps. The DFLP's leader, Nayif Hawatmeh lives in Syria.

A brief surveillance video clip of about 25 seconds [click here to view], provided by the army to selected news media today, shows, according to Times of Israel

a person smashing the fence with what appears to be a metal pipe. He is joined by four others, two of which go through a hole in the fence. Then it appears warning shots were fired. The two men run back into Gaza, and once they are through the fence the video cuts out. It was unclear when Arafa was shot. According to the Israel Defense Forces, dozens of Palestinians took part [today] in “violent riots in four locations along the Gaza Strip.” The army said it used mostly less-lethal riot dispersal measures against the demonstrators — tear gas and rubber bullets — but used live rounds against the people who sabotaged the fence. “The IDF will not allow security infrastructure and the fence, which protects Israeli citizens to be damaged, and we will take action against terrorists who are involved,” the army said in a statement. “We again warn against approaching the fence,” the IDF added.

Media channels traditionally hostile to Israel, like Agence France Press (AFP) are blandly reporting tonight that

A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces on the Gaza border Tuesday, the health ministry in the strip said, as tensions remained days after 17 people were killed when a mass demonstration led to clashes. The ministry identified the dead man as 25-year-old Ahmad Arafa, saying he was shot in the chest during clashes east of Bureij in central Gaza. The Israeli army said it was looking into the incident and could not immediately comment. It was the first death since at least 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops Friday when a protest by tens of thousands of people resulted in clashes... Israel has defended its soldiers' actions on Friday, saying they opened fire only when necessary against those throwing stones and firebombs or rolling tires at soldiers. It said there were attempts to damage the fence and infiltrate Israel, while alleging there was also an attempted gun attack against soldiers along the border. Palestinians say protesters were fired on while posing no threat to soldiers.

Our guess is the surveillance video clip showing today's penetration of the fence and infiltration from Gaza into Israel will not influence the outlook of the AFP editors.

As far as we know, AFP has no reporters stationed in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. In choosing to quote the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry as its source, it keeps its news consumers in the dark about its highly-compromised nature as a source of objective reporting.

We also noticed the Turkish Anadolu Agency described today's dead attacker this way:

“Ahmed Omar Arafa, 25, was martyred after being shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers near the eastern border of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip,” Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement.

Israel's friends had better get used to the new normal. For the next few weeks, the incompetent Hamas regime, unable to otherwise address the mounting fury of its subjects over a failed economy and a collapsed infrastructure, will be feeding news agencies with a steady stream of news fodder based on harmless, peaceful, unarmed protestors being mercilessly gunned-down without any good reason by mean Zionists. Hold tight.