Israel to send reinforcements to Gaza buffer zone: Army

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army on Thursday announced plans to bolster its troop presence along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, which for the last six months has seen almost-daily rallies by Palestinians.

“It was decided to reinforce our forces in the Southern Command Area [i.e., near the blockaded Gaza Strip] within coming days,” an Israeli army statement read.

According to the statement, the decision was taken based on a recent situation assessment conducted by Army Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eizenkot.

The statement goes on to assert that the army views Hamas -- which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007 -- as being responsible “for everything happening in and originating from” the blockaded coastal enclave.

For the last six months, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have taken part in almost-daily demonstrations along the heavily-fortified buffer zone.

Since the demonstrations began on March 30, scores of Palestinians have been martyred near the buffer zone -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year-long blockade of Gaza, which has gutted the territory’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.