Gaza City: Gaza activists on Saturday fired dozens of rockets at Israel, which responded with strikes that killed a Palestinian, officials said, as another escalation between them threatened a fragile ceasefire.
The latest flare-up came with Hamas, the movement that rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, seeking further concessions from Israel under the ceasefire.
Israel said around 150 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave by late Saturday afternoon and its air defences intercepted dozens of them.
One woman was seriously injured in a rocket strike on the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, some 20 kilometres from the Gaza border, police said.
Police said a man was also hospitalised in the city of Ashkelon and spoke of other injuries without providing details. A house near Ashkelon was damaged, while other rockets hit open areas.
The Israeli army said it had targeted two rocket launchers in Gaza with an air strike in an immediate response and its tanks and planes later hit some 30 military targets for Hamas and its ally IJ.
A Gazan security source said a series of Israeli strikes targeted at least three separate areas of the Gaza Strip and that three “resistance fighters” were wounded.
The Gaza health ministry reported one person killed and seven wounded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding consultations with security chiefs.
A statement from IJ claimed responsibility for at least some of the rocket fire and said it was prepared for more if necessary.
Its armed wing distributed a video showing activists handling rockets and threatening key Israeli sites, including Ben-Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv. A source in the group said Egypt was engaged in discussions to calm the situation, as it has done repeatedly in the past. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
