The Israeli Air Force attacked six Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip Friday evening as part of a new response strategy to the violent weekly protests along the Israel-Gaza border fence that began on March 30.
The new Israel Defense Forces' strategy involves bombing "high-value" Hamas assets in Gaza for every border protest that turns violent.
At previous protests that devolved into rioting, which included attempted attacks on Israeli forces patrolling the fence, the IDF fired tank shells aimed at empty guard posts along the fence.
The first IAF strikes under the new strategy targeted Hamas maritime police and naval commando sites.
The Palestinians reported four wounded in the strikes and responded with images of IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai in the crosshairs of Hamas' military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Meanwhile, the number of Palestinian casualties in the weekly protests continued to climb when a 15-year-old Palestinian youth died on Saturday after being shot by Israeli forces the previous day. In addition, another three protesters were killed in the riots, a Palestinian official said Saturday.
Hundreds gathered at the home of the dead teenager, identified as Azzam Aweida, in Khan Younis Saturday for his funeral.
Mourners carried his body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, to a nearby mosque for prayers before burial.
"My son is a martyr and I am very proud of him," said his father, Helal Aweida.
Spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza Ashraf al-Qedra told reporters that besides the deceased, 427 lightly injured protesters had received treatment at field clinics and another 456 were evacuated to hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in the violent protests since they began on March 30. According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, 32 of those were either confirmed terrorist operatives or linked to terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The Palestinians accuse Israel of using excessive force against the protesters, 2,000 of whom have been wounded by gunfire since they began.
Israel says it is protecting its borders and takes such action only when protesters, some hurling stones and rolling burning tires, come too close to the border fence or try to breach it.
On Friday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein called the loss of life deplorable and said a "staggering number" of injuries had been caused by live ammunition.
Meanwhile, the number of participants in the weekly demonstrations appears to be dwindling. Hamas managed to bring only 10,000 demonstrators to Friday's protests, compared to the 20,000 or 40,000 who showed up in the preceding weeks.
Meanwhile, the rising number of injuries in the weekly rioting on the Gaza border has put pressure on the region's hospitals, already struggling to obtain necessary medicine and medical supplies and dealing with a shortage of electricity.
Now, with more Palestinians wounded in daily anti-Israel rallies, hospitals face even more acute shortages of drugs and equipment.
"The medical crisis has been going on for a long time," said Amin Suhabani, the head of the emergency room in a rehabilitation hospital in Gaza. "We were already short of medicine and medical instruments. And now, the increased number of patients coming in hamper our capacity for treatment in a tremendous way."
Worse still, emergency generators have run out of fuel in many health facilities in Gaza, tying the hands of many doctors in their ability to treat patients.
The ministry and medical personnel have also sent urgent appeals to international organizations to provide medicines and supplies to public hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
"Our medical resources have hit rock bottom. The health authorities must provide more medical supplies for us to continue to treat the patients," said Suhabani.
"We call on all international, humanitarian organizations and the World Health Organization to provide us with necessary medical aid," said Munir al-Bursh, head of the Pharmacy Department of the Gaza Health Ministry.
