Israeli air strikes at least killed one Palestinian as hostilities flared across the border for a second day on Saturday. The escalation began on Friday, when two Israeli soldiers were wounded by Gaza gunfire near the border. A retaliatory Israeli air strike killed two fighters from the Islamist Hamas group that governs Gaza. Two other Palestinians protesting near the frontier were also killed by Israeli forces. On Saturday Israel hit Gaza with air strikes and tank. The flare-up, which prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene his security council, comes days before Muslims begin the holy month of Ramadan and Israelis celebrate Independence Day. Israel and Hamas have managed to avert all-out war for the past five years. Egyptian mediators, credited with brokering a ceasefire after a Hamas rocket attack north of Tel Aviv in March triggered a burst of intense fighting, have been working to prevent any further escalation of hostilities. A small armed pro-Hamas group in Gaza, The Protectors of Al-Aqsa, said one of its men was killed in an air strike on Saturday. The Gaza Health Ministry said four Palestinian bystanders were wounded, and the Palestinian Education Ministry said it was evacuating schools in areas under Israeli bombardment. Across the border, rocket sirens sent Israelis running to shelters, but there were no reports of casualties as many of the missiles were intercepted. Hamas would "continue to respond to the crimes by the occupation and it will not allow it to shed the blood of our people," its spokesman Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua said in a statement on Saturday. Israel has waged three wars on Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Hamas said on Thursday that its Gaza chief, Yeyha Al-Sinwar, had traveled to Cairo for talks on efforts to maintain calm along the border and alleviate hardship in the enclave. Some two million Palestinians live in Gaza, whose economy has suffered years of blockades as well as recent foreign aid cuts. Unemployment stands at 52 percent, according to the World Bank, and poverty is rampant. Israel says its blockade is necessary to stop weapons reaching Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. — Reuters
