Israel to convene emergency security cabinet meeting over Gaza attacks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a special meeting of security cabinet on Friday as cross-border attacks along the Gaza Strip border fence continued on Thursday.

Top Israeli ministers are expected to discuss the fire exchange around the Gaza Strip border fence at the meeting.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, Gadi Eizenkot, will brief the ministers on the recent developments, while Israeli soldiers continue to uncover underground tunnels dug by Hamas.

Eleven rounds of shells were fired at Israeli soldiers on Wednesday and Thursday, working to uncover underground tunnels, which Israel fears would used by Hamas in the Gaza Strip to carry out attacks against Israelis.

Israeli soldiers responded with tank fire and airstrikes on Thursday.

Palestinian media reported that one female was killed by the Israeli military's fire in southern Gaza Strip, and several others have been injured. No Israeli soldiers were reportedly injured.

Israeli war jets on Thursday afternoon struck four Hamas targets near the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

"Since May 3, Hamas has repeatedly fired and launched mortar shells against forces during operational defensive activities adjacent to the security fence with the Gaza Strip," a statement by the IDF spokesperson said.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who visited an army post near the strip earlier on Thursday, said Israel holds Hamas accountable for any violation of Israel's sovereignty, adding that the military would continue to work and uncover more tunnels and respond to fire from the enclave.

The IDF has announced discovering a 28-meter deep underground tunnel, the second one found since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in more than 2,000 Palestinian victims and over 70 Israelis. The first one was discovered on April 18.

It is not clear whether the tunnel was built before the 51-day conflict in the summer of 2014.

Israel's Channel 10 news reported on Thursday evening that Israel and Hamas have sent each other messages through Egypt, which mediated a cease-fire to end the 2014 conflict, and Qatar, in an attempt to calm the tensions.

Israel and Hamas, which rules the enclave since 2007 after a falling out with the rivaling Fatah faction in the West Bank, have fought several rounds in the enclave in the past decade.

The last round ended after a cease-fire was struck on August 26, 2014 since when Hamas had mostly calmed the strip, interrupted only by sporadic rocket fire towards Israel by Salafist organizations.

However, in recent months, amid an ongoing wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, the organization has been calling Palestinians to carry out further attacks against Israelis.

The organization claimed responsibility for an explosive attack on a Jerusalem bus, shortly after Israel announced the April discovery of an underground tunnel. Twenty Israelis were injured in varying degrees in the attack. Endit