The tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Palestinians was tested Friday when Israeli soldiers reportedly shot and killed a Palestinian man and wounded nine others as crowds of as many as 300 people surged toward the Gaza’s border fence with Israel. It was the first deadly violence since the cease-fire Thursday but from Hamas’ official efforts to keep crowds away from the fence there’s a strong suggestion this won’t jeopardize the cease-fire, reports the Associated Press. According to a relative cited by Reuters, the 23-year-old Palestinian was shot while trying to put a Hamas flag on the fence.
A poll in Israel released Friday show 49 percent believe the government should not have signed a cease-fire, while 31 percent side with the government and 20 percent had no opinion, reports the AP. While the cease-fire has cost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some popularity points, he still appears on track to win a January 22 election, notes Reuters.
The question of how close Palestinians can get to the border fence is important because Gaza officials say the cease-fire announced Wednesday, includes an Israeli promise that it would stop all “incursions” into a “buffer zone” along Gaza’s border, according to the New York Times. Israeli military officials say that soldiers fired warning shots into the air to disperse the Palestinians protesting along the fence but when some “tried to damage the fence and cross into Israel” they fired.
The Washington Post points out that on Thursday night, “many spoke with anticipation” of several aspects of the cease-fire agreement, including “wider mobility for Palestinians in the border zone.”
