GAZA CITY (Bernama): Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes late Saturday (Aug 21) on several locations in the besieged Gaza Strip.

       Tensions increased in the region after hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated on the Gaza-Israel border, Anadolu Agency reported.

       A few hours after, Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz announced that Israel would respond to the shooting of an Israeli soldier during demonstrations earlier on the border.

       According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent, explosions occurred at several points in Gaza after the attack.

       Palestinian media said the Nuseirat region in the central regions of Gaza and the Al-Shati Camp in the coastal region were among the locations hit.

       Israel said four targets belonging to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, were hit by warplanes in response to the injury of an Israeli soldier during demonstrations on the border.

       On Saturday, 41 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were wounded in the demonstrations held on the border of the blockaded Gaza Strip on the 52nd anniversary of the burning of Masjid al-Aqsa in 1969.

       On Aug 19, the Israeli army decided to increase forces on the Gaza border.

       A pro-Israeli Australian national, Dennis Michael Rohan, attacked Al-Aqsa mosque on Aug 21, 1969, burning the mihrab and a 1,000-year-old pulpit. – Bernama