Nearly a hundred rockets were fired Saturday morning from the Gaza Strip into Israel, provoking retaliation for Israeli raids and tank fire against Hamas positions in the Palestinian enclave, the army said. A 22-year-old Palestinian was killed by an Israeli strike, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.
Deadly rocket swap, says Gaza
The Israeli army said Saturday in a statement that about 90 rockets were fired Saturday from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory and that dozens of such shots were intercepted by Israel's missile defense system.
According to a security source in Gaza, Israeli airstrikes on Saturday hit at least three areas of the Gaza Strip, injuring three "resistance fighters". Later in the morning, the Gazan Ministry of Health announced the death of a 22-year-old Palestinian following a retaliatory fire from Israel.
Israeli rescue services have assured that rocket fire did not cause casualties. The army said it had targeted two rocket launch pads in the Palestinian enclave during an air raid and that its tanks attacked several Hamas military posts.
A rise in tension after demonstrations
The escalation, the largest in weeks, follows Friday's particularly violent protests along the Gaza-Israel border. During the demonstrations, four Palestinians were killed, including two members of Hamas' armed wing, in an Israeli retaliatory raid after two Israeli soldiers were wounded by Palestinian gunfire. The Islamist Hamas movement, in power in the Gaza Strip, promised Friday to respond to the "Israeli aggression".