Four dead in Gaza Strip fighting

GAZA CITY— Renewed clashes between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip left at least four Palestinians dead Saturday and 30 others wounded, according to Palestinian officials.

The violence began when an Israeli tank patrolling the northern Gaza border was struck by an anti-tank missile fired by Gaza militants. Four Israeli soldiers were wounded, including one in critical condition.

It was unclear which Palestinian militant group was responsible for the attack.

Israel Defense Forces struck back with ground fire and air raids over nearby areas, Palestinian witnesses said. Most of 30 injured Palestinians were residents of a neighborhood east of Gaza City that came under fire when militants fled to their area, Palestinians said.

Among the dead were Ahmed Dardasawi, 18, and Mohmad Harara, 17, Gaza hospital officials said.

The fighting raised fears that violence in the Gaza Strip could escalate. Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, condemned the “Zionist escalation and targeting of civilians," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

Shortly after the Israeli airstrikes, Gaza militants fired numerous rockets into southern Israel. No injuries were  reported. Israel warned citizens living near the border to remain close to bomb shelters.

Back-and-forth violence has rattled the region for months despite efforts to broker a cease-fire.

Several Palestinian civilians have been killed in recent clashes, including a 12-year-old boy struck in crossfire and a mentally unstable young man shot by Israeli soldiers when he drifted close to the border, Palestinian officials said.The two deaths occurred last week.

On Thursday, an Israeli soldier was wounded when an explosive device destroyed a vehicle that was involved in maintenance work along the border fence. 

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Photo: Wounded Israeli soldiers are wheeled into the Soroka hospital in Beersheva, southern Israel, following clashes along the Gaza Strip border, east of Gaza City on Saturday. Credit: Dudu Grunshpan / AFP/ Getty Images

Israel, Palestinian militants exchange strikes in Gaza Strip flare-up

JERUSALEM -- Tensions along the Gaza Strip intensified Wednesday as a sustained barrage of rockets fired into Israel prompted an Israeli airstrike, marking an escalation in the latest round of fighting in the region.

In a morning barrage, Palestinian militants fired more than 50 rockets into Israel, officials said, with several making direct hits on farms and residences. Three immigrant Thai farm workers who were injured in the attacks were airlifted for medical treatment.

School was canceled throughout Israeli communities bordering on the Gaza Strip, and residents were instructed to remain near shelters and protected areas.

Israel retaliated with an airstrike on Gaza, the fourth in 24 hours.

"The [Israel Defense Forces] will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians and will operate against anyone who uses terror against the state of Israel," said an army statement that held Hamas, which seized control of the seaside territory in 2007, "solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip."

Qatari emir visits Gaza Strip in sign of support

This post has been updated. See the notes below for details.

GAZA CITY -- Palestinians in the Gaza Strip rolled out the red carpet Tuesday for Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, the first foreign head of state to visit the besieged seaside territory since it was taken over by the Islamist militant group Hamas in 2007.

[Updated, 10:55 a.m. Oct. 23: The emir called on Hamas and its rival, the West Bank-based Fatah Party, to reconcile their differences and work together to establish a Palestinian state.

"Palestinians should understand that division does the greatest harm to them and to the cause of all the Arabs," he said during a speech at Islamic University in Gaza.]

The visit came during a period of renewed violence between Gaza militants and Israel.

On Monday, two Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli airstrikes as they attempted to fire rockets into southern Israel, Israeli officials said. An Israeli officer was wounded Tuesday morning by an explosive device planted along the Gaza border.

In preparation for the emir's visit, Hamas deployed hundreds of security guards to protect the him and his delegation, and lined the streets with Qatari flags.

Hamas leaders have been looking increasingly to Qatar for patronage since the unrest in Syria led the militant group to abandon its base in Damascus.

Fatah dominates West Bank election amid low turnout

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Amid a lackluster voter turnout, Palestinians largely elected the dominant Fatah Party to represent them in local councils throughout the West Bank, election officials said Sunday.

But rather than strengthening Fatah’s credibility as its leaders had hoped, the election -- the first municipal poll held since 2005 -- exposed internal party divisions and a deep public apathy.

Only about 55% of eligible voters went to the polls Saturday, down from 70% when municipal elections were last held seven years ago.

Analysts said the low turnout reflected a public frustration over the lack of new leaders and choices.

Fatah’s main rival -- the Islamist party Hamas, which controls Gaza Strip -- boycotted the West Bank election, saying its members were being harassed. No voting occurred in Gaza.

Palestinians vote in first local elections since 2005

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinians headed to the polls Saturday in the West Bank’s first local elections in seven years, selecting new leaders for 93 cities and villages.

Turnout was light in the morning but picked up as the day progressed, according to officials from the central elections commission.

As they cast their votes, many Palestinians expressed pride and happiness that the long-delayed local elections were finally being held.

“It makes me feel that democracy is well here,” said Tareq Makhlouf, 26, a U.S.-born Palestinian who moved to Ramallah last year.

Others said they hoped the new slate of local leaders would bring change.

“It is time to see new faces in the municipalities,” said Faisal Darras after casting a vote at a Ramallah polling station. “Seven years of the same faces is enough .... Elections should be held every four years, not every seven.”

The Palestinian Authority had attempted to conduct local elections several times since 2010, but votes were canceled due to political instability and the fracture between the two main Palestinian parties, Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which controls Gaza, did not allow voting to take place in the seaside territory and urged its supporters in the West Bank to boycott Saturday’s poll.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cast his vote in al-Bireh, Ramallah’s sister city. It is believed he voted for his party’s list, the Fatah-led Independence and Development bloc, one of only two lists running in the city.

“This is a day of democracy for the Palestinian people,” Abbas said.

He expressed hope that the Palestinian people would soon be able to vote in presidential and legislative elections as well. The last national election was held in 2006.

Counting the votes will start soon after the polls close Saturday evening, but preliminary results will not be announced before Sunday afternoon, election officials said.

Because of the Hamas boycott, most analysts predict Fatah lists will dominate the new local councils.

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Photo: A Palestinian woman looks at a voter registration list outside a polling station in the West Bank city of Hebron. Credit: Abed Hashlamoun / EPA

Israeli navy intercepts Gaza-bound protest ship

JERUSALEM -- Israeli navy commandos early Saturday intercepted a Gaza Strip-bound ship carrying about 30 pro-Palestinian activists as it attempted to break through a maritime blockade of the  impoverished seaside territory.

Israeli military officials said that after the ship refused to alter its course, soldiers took control of the vessel and directed it toward the Israeli port of Ashdod.

No injuries were reported.

The ship, called Estelle, was the last attempt by activists to bring attention to Israel’s naval blockade around Gaza. The boat carried cement and other supplies that Israel currently restricts from entering Gaza because it says they could be used to build military bunkers or weapons. Among the passengers were parliament members from Greece, Norway, Sweden and Spain, activists said.

In 2010, Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists on a similar protest ship when passengers violently resisted being taken over.

The Israeli government has called the protest ships a provocation and defended its naval blockade as necessary to ensure that militant groups in Gaza do not receive weapons.

Critics say Israel should relax its restrictions on land borders to permit the importation of more building supplies.

“If Israel wants to exercise its authority as occupying power to stop ships from reaching Gaza, it must fulfill its obligation to allow free movement of people and goods via the land crossings, subject only to individual security checks," said Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, an Israeli group that has criticized the blockade.

-- Edmund Sanders

U.S. soldiers arrive in Israel for largest-ever military exercise

JERUSALEM -- More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers have begun to arrive in Israel for the largest-ever joint military exercise between the two nations to test their cooperation in the event of a large-scale missile attack against Israel.

The three-week, $30-million war games are purely defensive in nature and unrelated to any specific regional threat, Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin said during a briefing with reporters Wednesday.

Israel is particularly worried about recent turmoil and new threats in the region. Syria’s unrest is raising fears about the fate of its chemical weapons. Israel has threatened to launch a military attack against Iran’s purported nuclear weapons program. An Iranian-built unmanned spy drone sent by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group was shot down over Israel last week.

Militants in the Gaza Strip this week, for the first time, fired an antiaircraft missile against Israeli planes. Israeli officials believe that weapon and many more like it were smuggled into Gaza from Libya after the revolution in that country.

But Franklin stressed that the exercise, which will include tests of U.S.-made Patriot and Aegis missile defense systems, had been planned for two years and was not intended to send any signal about possible upcoming military operations.

The drill is “not there to send a message,” he said.

In the same telephone briefing, however, Israel Defense Forces Brig. Gen. Nitzan Nuriel said that “anyone who wants can get any kind of message he wants from this exercise.”

Israel relies heavily on its close cooperation with the U.S. military to serve as a deterrent against its enemies.

The exercise will simulate a multifront missile attack against Israel, Nuriel said.

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Photo: A U.S. soldier works on an anti-missile system in an earlier U.S.-Israeli military exercise. About 1,000 U.S. military personnel are arriving in Israel for joint military exercises to take place over the next three weeks. Credit:  Ziv Koren / European Pressphoto Agency

Israeli military calculated calorie needs of Gazans during embargo

JERUSALEM -- Israel’s military calculated the minimum number of calories per day that Gaza Strip residents would need to avoid malnutrition during its embargo of goods into the restive territory from 2007 to 2010, court documents released Wednesday show.

Military officials said the so-called “red lines” document was only a draft and was never used in setting policy or determining how much food it would allow into the Hamas-ruled coastal strip. The paper, which the military fought for more than three years to keep classified, was only intended to ensure Gaza did not fall into a humanitarian crisis, officials said.

But Israeli human rights activists and Palestinian officials said Israel’s practices during the embargo closely mirrored the document’s recommendations, including how many truckloads of food were allowed in, how many calves Gazans would receive for slaughter and what types of food would be banned, such as chocolate and olive oil.

“In many cases the policy reflected exactly what was in the document,” said Sari Bashi, director of the Israeli group Gisha, which filed a lawsuit against the military to force the document’s release.

“The documents show that Israel used its control to put pressure on the Hamas regime by making civilians suffer,” said Bashi, whose group opposes the embargo.

Gaza militants killed in Israeli airstrike

GAZA CITY -- An Israeli airstrike Saturday killed two Palestinian militants and wounded two civilians, medical officials in the Gaza Strip said.

One of the militants, Hisham Sueidani, 43, was believed to be the highest-ranking member and co-founder of  an extremist Islamist group called Tawhid and Jihad, which professes to draw its inspiration from Al Qaeda, officials said. Sueidani's assistant was also killed in the strike, officials said. The pair were targeted as they rode a motorcycle in northern Gaza.

Medical officials said two bystanders were injured, one a 10-year-old boy.

Israeli officials said the group has been responsible for several attacks against Israel.

In addition to firing rockets into southern Israel, Tawhid and Jihad was blamed for the 2011 kidnapping and slaying of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni.

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Gaza militant killed in renewed clashes with Israel

GAZA CITY -- Renewed clashes between Gaza Strip militants and Israeli soldiers left one Palestinian fighter dead Monday and 14 others wounded, while southern Israeli cities were showered with several dozen mortars and rockets.

For the first time since June, Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, joined other armed groups in firing rockets at Israel.

The exchange was triggered by an Israeli airstrike over the weekend that targeted a motorcycle carrying two people who Israel said were responsible for cross-border attacks earlier this year.

One of the passengers, Abdullah Mekawi, 25, died from his wounds, Hamas officials said.

Militant groups responded early Monday by firing an estimated 40 mortar rounds and rockets. No Israelis were injured, but some property damage was reported.

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Photo: Palestinians gather around the wreckage of motorcycle following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The attack was followed Monday by cross-border clashes between Israel and militant groups in the coastal enclave. Credit: Evad Baba / Associated Press