Following rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on the death of a prisoner, the Israeli Air Force has attacked several targets in the Palestinian territory. Among them are military posts, a weapons depot, weapons production facilities and a training facility of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Wednesday night. Israel blames the militant Islamist Hamas for all attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip. According to reports from the isolated coastal area, explosions were heard in several places.
Earlier, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired at least 30 rockets and six mortar shells at Israel after the death of a Palestinian prisoner, according to the army. According to paramedics, at least three people in Israel were injured by rocket shrapnel, one of them seriously. According to media reports, others were treated for anxiety. During the night, the warning sirens wailed again in several cities.
Man seriously injured in the Gaza Strip
In the northern Gaza Strip, a man suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a large stone after an Israeli airstrike, according to hospital reports. The ministry of health in the Gaza Strip had previously announced that hospitals and emergency services were on high alert.
As the news site "Ynet" reported, Egypt sought mediation between Israel and influential forces in the Gaza Strip in the evening to end the fighting. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya announced during the night: "We are contacting our brothers in Egypt and Qatar to stop the aggression against the Gaza Strip."
Meanwhile, the militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization circulated a video in the Gaza Strip purporting to show its people preparing to launch rockets. At the end, the lettering "We haven't started yet" appears.
Late in the evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a briefing on the security situation, which was also attended by Defense Minister Joav Galant. "Anyone who tries to harm the citizens of Israel will regret it," Galant warned.
The background to the recent tensions between Israelis and Palestinians is the death of Chader Adnan. On Tuesday morning, the senior member of the "Islamic Jihad" died in Israeli custody after almost three months of hunger strike. The 44-year-old from the city of Jenin in the West Bank was found unconscious in his cell early in the morning, according to the prison authorities. In response, several Palestinian militant organizations in the Gaza Strip announced retaliation.
According to the prison authorities, Adnan had been imprisoned for alleged membership in a terrorist organization and support for terror and incitement. The Islamist began the hunger strike on February 5 after his arrest for alleged terrorism offenses, a spokesman said. It was already his tenth prison term in Israel.