JERUSALEM: A Palestinian armed with an axe was shot dead trying to breach the Gaza-Israel border on Monday, the Israeli army said.
An army statement said troops thwarted an “infiltration attempt” by “two terrorists who damaged the security fence and were armed with an axe.”
Soldiers “fired toward the terrorists, killing one of them,” it added, without saying what happened to the second suspect.
There was no immediate confirmation from the health ministry in Gaza.
Al-Aqsa TV, affiliated with Gaza’s rulers Hamas, published a video of a group of young men at the border, some of them using wire cutters to breach the fence.
They then approach a military post and hurl what appears to be a petrol bomb at it, before running back into Gaza.
The video did not show anyone getting shot, but an eyewitness said one of the men was hit as he tried to flee, with the body taken by Israeli forces.
The video said the operation was revenge for the death of Razan Al-Najjar, a 21-year-old female medic shot dead in southern Gaza on Friday.
The death brings to 125 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since March 30.
The vast majority have been killed during weeks of protests along the border, while a few were killed while carrying out attacks or in air strikes.
Protests peaked on May 14 when at least 61 people were killed as tens of thousands approached the heavily fortified border in a demonstration coinciding with the controversial opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.
No Israelis have been killed.
The Jewish state accuses Hamas of organizing the protests and using them as an excuse to carry out attacks.
Palestinian shot dead trying to breach Gaza border
Palestinian shot dead trying to breach Gaza border
- An Israeli army statement said troops thwarted an “infiltration attempt” by “two terrorists who damaged the security fence and were armed with an axe.”
- Al-Aqsa TV showed a video of a group of young men at the border, some of them using wire cutters to breach the fence. They then approach a military post and hurl what appears to be a petrol bomb at it.
The art of war: fears for masterpieces on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi
- UAE paid more than €1 billion to borrow priceless works, but experts in France want them back
PARIS: The Middle East war has raised fears for the safety of priceless masterpieces on loan from France to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum’s only foreign branch.
The Abu Dhabi museum, which opened in 2017, has so far escaped damage from nearly 1,800 Iranian drone and missile strikes launched since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28.
However, concerns are mounting in France. “The works must be removed,” said Didier Selles, who helped broker the original agreement between France and the UAE.
French journal La Tribune de l’Art echoed that alarm. “The Louvre’s works in Abu Dhabi must be secured!” it said.
France’s culture ministry said French authorities were “in close and regular contact with the authorities of the UAE to ensure the protection of the works loaned by France.”
Under the agreement with the UAE, France agreed to provide expertise, lend works of art and organize exhibitions, in return for €1 billion, including €400 million for licensing the use of the Louvre name. The deal was extended in 2021 to 2047 for an additional €165 million.
Works on loan include paintings by Rembrandt and Chardin, Classical statues of Isis, Roman sarcophagi and Islamic masterpieces: such as the Pyxis of Al-Mughira.
A Louvre Abu Dhabi source said the museum was designed to protect collections from both security threats and natural disasters.
