Daily Times

Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza after clashes between its troops and Palestinian protesters left dozens injured, including an Israeli border policeman and a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who were both critically wounded. The escalation came exactly three months since Israel and Hamas reached a truce following their deadliest fighting in years. Israeli troops fired at Palestinian protesters who gathered near the Gaza border wall, the army and Palestinian witnesses said. A Palestinian gunman fired at Israeli troops through an opening in the wall and crowds of young protesters hurled explosives over the barrier and tried to scale it. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said the injured included a 13-year-old boy left in a critical condition after being hit in the head. “Forty-one civilians were wounded with various injuries,” the ministry said in a statement, with Hamas saying “thousands” of protesters had taken part. The Israel Border Police said a 21-year-old sniper in its undercover unit was critically wounded when he was shot by a Palestinian protester. “His condition is critical and there is a risk to his life,” it said of the wounded officer. Hamas had called a protest to mark the burning 52 years ago of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.