Israel strikes Gaza in retaliation for rocket fire | World News

The Israeli military carried out airstrikes and exchanged fire against militants in Gaza on Tuesday, violence following the death of a hunger strike Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody.

The military said it struck Gaza with “tank guns” in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, triggering a fresh salvo from Gaza witnessed by an AFP reporter.

Later on Tuesday, the military said it was carrying out airstrikes on Gaza. The attack targeted several locations, including one belonging to Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the territory, according to security sources and Palestinian witnesses.

Hamas’s armed group, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said it responded by firing surface-to-air missiles.

The exchange of fire followed the death of Khader Adnan, a 45-year-old prisoner who had been detained in the occupied West Bank for nearly three months for his ties to the Islamic Jihad militant group.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh described his death as a “deliberate assassination”, accusing Israel of “refusing requests for his release, neglecting his medical care and keeping him in a cell despite his serious health conditions “.

Gaza militants first fired three rockets after news of his death broke, the Israeli army said.

Israeli retaliatory tank fire was hit by another 22 shells fired from Gaza, the military reported.

Gaza’s militant factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, issued a joint statement saying the rocket firing was an “initial response” to Adnan’s death.

Three people were wounded by shrapnel in the Sderot area near the Gaza border, Magen David Adom emergency services said.

Gaza mortar fire

After meeting with the military chief, Defense Minister Yoav Galante warned: “Anyone who tries to harm Israeli citizens will be sorry.”

Adnan was the first Palestinian to die as a direct result of a hunger strike, according to the advocacy group Palestine Prisoners Club.

The group’s director, Qaddura Faris, said other Palestinian detainees died “from attempted force-feeding”.

In response to Adnan’s death, Palestinians launched a general strike in West Bank cities.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said prison officials had decided to close the cells “to prevent riots”.

“The instruction to the prisoner service is zero tolerance for hunger strikes and riots in security prisons,” he said.

The Israeli army said six mortar shells were fired into Israel that night, landing in Gaza and areas under the security fence.

‘pay the price’

A senior Israeli official described Adnan as “a hunger striker who refused medical attention and risked his life”.

“The court-martial decided not to release him solely on the grounds of his health,” said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the media.

The official described Adnan as an Islamic Jihad “agent” who is facing charges related to his activities with the militant group.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War in 1967, and its army routinely detains Palestinians, who will be tried by Israeli military courts.

Islamic Jihad, which is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, has warned Israel will “pay for this crime”.

The Israeli Prison Service said Adnan was in prison for the 10th time, and his wife, Randa Musa, previously told AFP that her husband had repeatedly gone on hunger strikes while in custody.

Families Against Gaza Rockets

Speaking on Tuesday, Moussa said she was proud of her husband’s “martyrdom”, which the family wore “on our heads”.

But she cautioned the militants against launching a violent response.

“We don’t want to shed a drop of blood,” she told reporters in her hometown of Alaba in the northern West Bank.

“We don’t want anyone to respond to the martyrdom. We don’t want someone to fire a rocket and then (Israel) attack Gaza.”

In his final message, Adnan said he was “sending you these words as my flesh and fat melt”.

“I pray that God accepts me as a faithful martyr,” he wrote in a message published by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club on Monday.

Israel Physicians for Human Rights said its medical staff visited Adnan and raised his “life-threatening condition requiring immediate hospital transfer”.

Israeli rights group BTselem described his hunger strike as “a form of non-violent protest against the injustice of his arrest and occupation”.

“The fact that a man whose life is in danger remains behind bars despite repeated calls to transfer him to a hospital reflects Israel’s absolute disregard for his life,” the group said.