Queen Tex factory in Gaza used to specialise in manufacturing shirts and jeans, but with the novel coronavirus epidemic sweeping the globe it has pivoted into medicalwear.

When Nima Amraa returned to the Gaza Strip from neighboring Egypt earlier this month, she was surprised to learn she was being placed in a makeshift quarantine center set up by the ruling Hamas group.

But her initial jitters turned to fear when two fellow travelers in another facility tested positive for the coronavirus — the first cases to be confirmed in Gaza.

Israeli aircraft struck Hamas positions in Gaza early Wednesday, the military said, after Palestinians in the enclave launched projectiles and explosive balloons at the Jewish state.

Israeli forces struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip for a second consecutive day Thursday, the army said, saying it was in response to incendiary balloons launched from the strip.

Palestinian protests along the Gaza-Israel border have been cancelled for the third week, organisers said on Thursday, amid declining turnout and fears of a fresh conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza's Hamas rulers are facing a rare and growing chorus of criticism, with little to show after 18 months of mass protests along the Israeli frontier organized by the Palestinian militant group.

The mass protests at the frontier with Israel were meant to draw attention to the plight of the territory's 2 million people. When the protests began, Hamas quickly seized upon the popular idea and transformed the quiet gatherings into violent confrontations.

Israeli forces attacked Hamas positions in Gaza after rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave hit the Jewish state, the military said early Saturday.

Organisers cancelled the main weekly protests along the Gaza-Israel border on Friday, for only the second time in more than a year.

Israel reduced the offshore fishing limit it imposes for vessels operating out of Gaza from Tuesday following rocket fire from the territory by Palestinian militants, officials said.

Over the weekend, Gaza's Hamas rulers marked a year of bloody, weekly protests that have failed to break the Israeli blockade. Rocket attacks brought a wave of Israeli airstrikes and unprecedented protests broke out against the Islamic militants' increasingly unpopular rule.

And yet Hamas' control over Gaza is tighter than ever.