Gaza crowds surge at Israel border fence, 1 dead


November 23, 2012 at 12:39p.m.

Gaza crowds surge at Israel border fence, 1 dead

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops fired on Gazans surging toward Israel’s border fence today, killing one person but leaving intact the fragile two-day-old cease-fire between Hamas and the Jewish state.

The truce, which calls for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years.

Hundreds of Palestinians approached the border fence today in several locations in southern Gaza, testing expectations Israel would no longer enforce a 300-meter-wide (300-yard-wide) no-go zone on the Palestinian side of the fence that was meant to prevent infiltrations into Israel. In the past, Israeli soldiers routinely opened fire on those who crossed into the zone.