Palestinians resume mortar attacks on Israel

GAZA — Palestinians gunners have resumed mortar and bombing attacks on Israeli targets.

On Thursday, two Romanian laborers were killed while they were repairing an Israeli fence along the Gaza Strip. The workers were killed when a bomb was detonated at the Kissufim terminal. The bomb was followed by machine-gun fire toward an Israeli position.

Israeli troops entered a nearby Palestinian-controlled area and destroyed at least one structure believed used as a hideout by the attackers. An Israeli bulldozer also razed trees that served as cover for the attackers.

Earlier, Israeli military sources said two mortars landed near an Israeli farming community of Kfar Gaza. The mortars fell into open fields on Wednesday and nobody was injured.

Following the attack, Israeli troops entered Palestinian Authority territory and destroyed a police position believed used by the Palestinian gunners. The troops then left the area.

Clashes were also reported in the northern Gaza town of Bet Hanoun and outside Rafah near the Egyptian border. The troops destroyed a PA position used by Palestinian snipers.

The Palestinian Authority has acquired new shipments of weapons from Lebanon and Egypt, military sources said. The shipments include mortars, Katyusha rockets and anti-aircraft missiles and were said to have been produced in Hungary.

The shipments were sent by Iranian-backed Palestinian groups based in Lebanon. In Damascus, the Iranian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine pledged to continue shipments of weapons to the PA.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources said Israeli agents planted a bomb in the Tunisian Embassy in Gaza. The sources said sappers defused the bomb. It was the second bomb found in Gaza in less than a day. The sources said a bomb was earlier discovered in downtown Gaza City.

The ruling Fatah movement has called for a state of alert and plans to restructure the so-called popular resistance committees that are said to direct the war against Israel.