Explosion in Gaza Strip kills four, wounds 30; cause unknown

Four people were wounded in the strike, among them two police officers in an adjacent police, one of them seriously.

“The Israeli authorities had refused to allow either team to travel between the Gaza Strip and the [Israeli-occupied] West Bank until the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) lodged a complaint with FIFA about Israel’s discriminatory actions”, PFA Vice Secretary-General Mohamed al-Emsi told Anadolu Agency.

The Israel Air Force attacked a Hamas target in the central Gaza Strip on Friday evening after rockets were fired at Israel from the Strip in the afternoon.

Sources said that Palestinian Maher Shtat, 14, was hit with a live bullet fired by Israeli forces stationed at watchtowers at the borderline to the north of the strip.

Israeli naval boats Sunday opened machine gunfire on Palestinian fishing boats offshore the city of Gaza, according to WAFA correspondent.

“Hamas must fulfill its responsibilities or face the consequences”, the army statement said.

In recent months, a radical jihadist-Salafi group calling itself the Omar Hadid Brigades – named after a key figure who helped Abu Musab al-Zarqawi set up and run al-Qaida in Iraq a decade ago – has attempted to challenge Hamas’s rule in the Strip.

In Gaza, Salafists have made no secret of their disdain for Hamas over its observance of a tacit ceasefire with Israel and failure to implement Islamic law.

Hamas arrested members of the group following past rocket attacks, and stepped up its attempts to enforce the truce with Israel, which came into effect in August ending a 50-day conflict.