BICOM

A 16-year-old Palestinian died as clashes took place yesterday in the West Bank. Meanwhile, reports continue that Hamas is rebuilding its military capability in Gaza while reconstruction of housing and infrastructure remains stagnant.

Rocks were hurled yesterday at Israeli cars near the Tapuach Junction in the West Bank. Reuters quotes an IDF spokesman who explained that soldiers instructed the group of Palestinians responsible to stop, but that when they failed to comply, troops “responded to the threat with direct fire, wounding one of the attackers.” One of the group, named by Palestinian media as Imam Jameel a-Safeer, was treated at the scene but later died. Late last night, an explosive device was thrown from a vehicle at IDF troops near Hebron. The troops opened fire, reportedly wounding two Palestinian teenagers.

Yesterday’s clashes come after an 11-year-old Israeli girl received life-threatening third degree burns to over half of her body over the weekend, when the car she was in was struck by a firebomb in the West Bank. It also follows a number of violent and sometimes deadly attacks on Israelis in the West Bank since October, including the stabbing to death of a woman last month in Gush Etzion.

Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports that last week Hamas held a drill which simulated a cross-border raid and an attack on an IDF post. Hamas has in recent weeks also held a large-scale military display and test fired rockets in an apparent attempt to underscore that it is rebuilding its military capability following Operation Protective Edge.

Reconstruction of housing and infrastructure destroyed in the summer conflict continues to be delayed, despite international aid pledges and Israeli agreement to permit the entry of building materials. Yesterday, eight Palestinian ministers arrived in Gaza to kick-start the rebuilding after representatives of Hamas and the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas traded accusations over responsibility for the lack of progress. According to an agreement with Israel and the UN, the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas is supposed to be the conduit for reconstruction efforts, but Hamas has resisted ceding authority within the Gaza Strip.