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JERUSALEM — Israel carried out “wide-scale” airstrikes and deployed tanks against Hamas military targets along the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing at least three Palestinians, officials said.
The strikes took place after Israel Defense Forces soldiers came under fire in a “severe shooting attack” Friday afternoon, the Israeli military said. It did not specify the condition of the soldiers.
“Hamas chose to escalate the security situation — and will bear the consequences for its actions,” the IDF said in a statement.
The Palestinian Health Ministry told NBC News that three Palestinians had been killed by Israeli tanks.
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The strikes raised fears of a wider conflict in the region. The United Nations pleaded with all sides to “step back from the brink” of war.
Weekly clashes at the Israel-Gaza border have kept tensions high for months. More than 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests started on March 30.
The protests are partly meant to draw attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.
Israel has said it is defending its sovereign border.
The nation accuses Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, of using the protests to disguise attempts to break through the border fence to attack Israeli soldiers and civilians.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli’s defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, visited Sderot, an Israeli town near Gaza that has been pummeled by Palestinian rockets in recent years.
“The leaders of Hamas force us into a situation of no choice, a situation in which we will have to embark on a wide and painful military operation,” Lieberman told reporters at a meeting with Sderot residents.
“I think that all the responsibility in this case is for the heads of Hamas. But unfortunately, the residents of Gaza will have to pay the price,” Lieberman added.
Lawahez Jabari reported from Jerusalem, Daniel Arkin reported from New York.