Israel boosts security by land and air for Gaza Ramadan outbreaks

Early Friday, DEBKAfile reported Israeli Air Force light planes torched the piles of tires Hamas had heaped up along the Gaza Strip border for its biggest anti-Israel turnout later on the last Friday of Ramadan. They also set fire to Hamas tents around the southern Gaza town of Rafah. From Thursday night, Israeli troops were positioned along the Gaza border, ready to hold back mob assaults and counter rocket fire with tanks, Iron Dome batteries, snipers and interceptor drone teams for the swarming Palestinian incendiary kites. The IDF, having just finished a large-scale air exercise, warned that Israeli warplanes, armed with heavy, high-precision bombs, are on high readiness for multiple, simultaneous strikes in response to the first Palestinian rocket to be launched against Israel. In Jerusalem, too, police and border guard units were beefed up to ward off potential Palestinian violence, as tens of thousands of Muslims gathered for festival worship at Al Aqsa.