Gaza militant group says it fired rockets at Israel in response to air strike
Teargas canisters fired by Israeli troops fall over Palestinians during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel on July 13, 2018. Khalil Hamra / AP Photo
Hamas fired more than a dozen rockets towards Israel after Israeli jets struck several sites in Gaza on Saturday following renewed Palestinian protests along the border a day earlier in which a teenager was killed.
The Israeli military said its jets targeted a Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip as well as other military compounds, including those involved in the spate of arson attacks using kites and balloons. As the air strikes were being carried out, the first of about 17 rockets were fired at Israel, the military said, five of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system.
In a relatively rare admission, Hamas said it fired the rockets to deter Israel from further action. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said it was an "immediate response" that was meant to "deliver the message".
There were no reports of casualties on either side but the exchange threatens to spark a further conflagration after weeks of tensions along the volatile border.
Israel has been warning Hamas in recent weeks that while it has no interest in engaging in the kind of conflict that led to the sides fighting three wars over the past decade, it would not tolerate Gaza militants' continued efforts to breach the border and airborne arson attacks on Israeli border communities.
The air strikes on Saturday morning were "in response to the terror acts instigated during the violent riots that took place along the security fence yesterday", the military said.
On Friday, thousands of Palestinians gathered near the Gaza border for their near-weekly protest. Israeli troops shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian who the military said had tried to climb over the fence into Israel.
The Gaza health ministry said 15-year-old Othman Rami Halles was killed east of Gaza City. A further 220 Palestinians were wounded as protests along the frontier, it said.
Later the Israeli military said an officer was wounded by a grenade thrown at him.
Palestinians in Gaza have for months been demonstrating against Israel's decade-long blockade of the territory and in support of their right to return to lands they fled or were driven from during the war surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948.
At least 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests and clashes broke out along the border on March 30.
No Israelis have been killed.
The Israeli blockade of Gaza was imposed after Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007 and has caused widespread hardship for its residents, including high unemployment, acute power shortages and lack of adequate medical care
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