Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip traded fire on Tuesday, after a high-profile member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad died in Israeli custody on the 87th day of a hunger strike.
Israel’s military said more than 30 rockets and mortars had been fired towards the country from Gaza in several salvos. Most were intercepted or fell in open areas. However, at least two penetrated Israel’s air defences and three foreign workers were injured, one seriously, in the southern city of Sderot, according to Israeli paramedics.
On Tuesday night, Israel’s military responded with air strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip, including a military post, a training facility and weapons storage and manufacturing sites. Israel said they were linked to the Hamas militant group that controls the blockaded coastal enclave.
Palestinian media reported early on Wednesday that one person had been injured in the air strikes, but Palestinian officials did not immediately confirm the report.
A group representing armed factions in Gaza — including Hamas and the smaller Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — said the rockets launched from the territory were an “initial response” to the death of Khader Adnan, a PIJ member who died earlier on Tuesday.
Israel’s prison service said Adnan, 45, had been detained on terror charges and was found unconscious in his cell in a prison medical centre on Tuesday morning after refusing to undergo medical tests or receive medical treatment.
However, Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused the Israeli authorities of causing Adnan’s death by rejecting his request for release, neglecting him medically and keeping him in his cell despite the seriousness of his condition.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel said it had tried “for weeks” to persuade Israel’s health ministry to keep Adnan in hospital. It added that its chair Lina Qasem-Hassan had warned after visiting him a few days ago that he faced “imminent death” but its efforts had fallen “on deaf ears”.
An Israeli military spokesperson said it believed PIJ had fired the rockets from Gaza but that Hamas had been aware of the launches.
The flare-up comes at a time of heightened tension. Last month, militants in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria all launched rockets at Israel after Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem in an attempt to remove Palestinians trying to stay overnight in the compound — known to Jews as the Temple Mount — during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In response, Israel bombed targets in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.
The cross-border exchanges followed a year-long wave of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, with Israeli forces killing more than 250 Palestinians in near nightly raids in response to Palestinian attacks that began last spring and have since killed more than 40 Israelis.
Adnan had been detained multiple times by Israel. In several cases he went on hunger strike in protest at being held in administrative detention. Israel uses the procedure to hold people without charge but it is criticised by rights groups.
Israel says the administrative detentions are needed to protect intelligence gathering. But rights groups say they make it impossible for prisoners to construct a legal defence.
Credit: Source link
