An Israeli air strike late Friday demolished the house of a suspected Palestinian weapons dealer near the Gaza-Egypt border, the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian police said.

The two-story house was brought down in back-to-back strikes, Palestinian
security officials said. The IDF said the house had covered the entrance to a smuggling tunnel.

	Advertisement

There were no reports of injuries.

The IDF routinely notifies owners of homes being targeted in air strikes to give residents a chance of leave.

On Saturday morning, a Qassam rocket landed in an open area in the western Negev. No casualties were reported, but some damage was caused to a road.

Thousands of Fatah supporters stage anti-Hamas march in Gaza
Thousands of Fatah supporters staged an anti-Hamas march Friday amid growing tension between the political rivals.

The marchers, led by hundreds of gunmen firing in the air, chanted slogans against Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas.

Hamas-Fatah tensions in Gaza have been running high after months of skirmishes between rival gunmen and the assassination of a top Fatah-allied security chief last week.

Earlier Friday, Palestinian gunmen opened fire in the midst of a long group of people waiting to cross from the Gaza Strip into Egypt on Friday and tossed a grenade at Palestinian officials, wounding two of them.

Palestinian sources said the militants were trying to clear the way for their relatives to get closer to the border.

However, the violence ended up causing European monitors to close the border briefly. The crossing was reopened by early afternoon, after Palestinian officers took control of the crowds.

The shooting began shortly after the Rafah crossing opened for the first time in about a month.

Thousands of people were pushing and shoving as they waited to cross the border Friday.

The Rafah crossing was expected to be open for two days, to allow thousands of Palestinians to pass through en route to Saudi Arabia, to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said Jabbour.

The crossing is the Gaza Strip's main gateway to the world, and has undergone frequent closures since the June 25 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas-linked militants. The last time the border opened was August 25.

By mid-morning Friday, only one bus carrying some 50 Palestinians had crossed the border, said Hani Jabbour, a Palestinian diplomat stationed at the border terminal.

Some 1,500 Palestinians stranded in Egypt were also waiting to return to Gaza, Jabbour said.

The Egypt-Gaza border is controlled by the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, with the help of European Union monitors. Israel demanded its closure after Shalit's capture, to prevent him from being smuggled out of Gaza.