A month-long cessation in hostilities has been broken by a new protest that turned violent at the Gaza border with Israel. This has been followed by a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel.
The Israeli army on Sunday said it had carried out retaliatory airstrikes after some 50 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave of Gaza earlier in the day. There were no reports of casualties from the attacks, with dozens of rockets reportedly intercepted by air defenses.
The flare-up comes after four Palestinians in the Gaza strip were killed on Friday, as protests erupted along the Israeli border. Two of those killed were said to be Hamas militants.
The Health Ministry in Gaza confirmed the deaths, saying that two of the Palestinians had been shot dead, while the two Hamas fighters were killed in an airstrike.
Israel’s army said that airstrike was launched in retaliation for the shooting incident on the border that left two Israeli soldiers wounded.
The incidents represent a new escalation since a cessation of hostilities was mediated by Egypt a month ago, after a rocket that hit a house in central Israel reignited tensions between Palestinians and Israelis.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said that some 5,200 Palestinians had taken part in Friday’s day-long demonstrations. More than 50 Palestinians suffered various injuries during the protests.