11,000 Gazans protested near the border fence with Israel on Friday, during which 90 Gazans were injured. According to reports on Ynet, most of the protesters didn’t approach the fence itself. Many of those who did threatened Israeli security forces or attempted to destroy parts of the fence. IDF soldiers used crowd dispersing ammunition against those that were deemed viable threats.

Numerous balloon bombs were launched at Israel during the protests and throughout Shabbos. On Motzei Shabbos a loud explosion was reported being heard in the southern Gaza Strip and Israeli media sources have reported that the sound came from a failed attempt to launch a rocket at Israel.

Hamas Leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar said to Gazan media that “During the next war Israel will suffer. I promise that they will not only evacuate towns in the Gaza periphery, but they will also evacuate Ashdod, Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. Our fingers will always remain on the trigger.”

Hamas terrorists in prison have stated that a group of them will begin a hunger strike that includes not drinking water on Sunday unless their demands are met. Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan said: “Our plan is to increase security and medical coverage in the prison by adding paramedics and doctors so that we will not have to transport any of the prisoners to hospital. We want to prevent them going out and seeing civilian hospitals in Israel. We hope that they will break long before that.”

Former Defense Minister and Leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu political party Avigdor Lieberman said that his party would not sit in a left wing government and never sit with Meretz Leader Tamar Zandberg. He also said that the right wing will end up with 67 or 68 seats. His party is one of the parties that is on the cusp of not passing the electoral threshold.

A 30-year-old motorcyclist was killed in an accident just north of Tayibe in Israel on Saturday.

A 22-year-old motorcyclist was moderately-to-seriously injured after his motorcycle flipped over on an entrance ramp to a highway near a rock quarry located close to the Sorek Industrial Zone by Beit Shemesh. United Hatzalah volunteers and Magen David Adom teams treated the injured biker prior to his being transported to the hospital.

Police captured an illegal gun from two people who were suspected of firing a weapon during a wedding in Baka al-Garbiya. The two suspects were apprehended and the gun was confiscated.

Following a day of press releases and deliberations, South Africa announced that they will indeed return their ambassador from Israel in a statement of protest against the Israeli government: “This is the first step in the downgrading of relations with Israel,” said Lindiwe Sisulu, the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Over the course of the weekend, some 150,000 tourists visited national parks around Israel. According to the national park association, the major centers of attraction were the Banias, Masada, Tel Afek, Caesarea, and Ein Gedi.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)