Israel tanks maneuver round Gaza fence

Blind folded youth Nadi Raed, 17-years-old, is held by Israeli soldiers.

Residents of the northern Gaza Strip said Israeli tanks passed inside the fence surrounding the enclave on Wednesday but the Israeli army said there was no incursion into Palestinian territory. A local farmer and a local journalist said eight armoured vehicles and two bulldozers took up positions close to land farmed by Palestinians about 200 metres (yards) on the Gaza side of the fence, near the Palestinian town of Beit Lahiya. But an Israeli military spokesman said: “There was no incursion into the Gaza Strip … The fence is not exactly at the border. There may well have been routine checking for mines.” The Israeli army has stepped up activity in recent days along the border with Gaza in an apparent effort to stop militants from firing makeshift rockets at nearby Israeli towns.

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