After a rocket landed in southern Israel and as tensions reach a boiling point in the occupied West Bank, Israeli warplanes have attacked sites in the Gaza Strip.
10 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since last week.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the Israeli military said the air raids in the early hours of Sunday targeted a weapons manufacturing facility and an underground tunnel belonging to Hamas.
“The strike overnight continues the progress to impede the force build-up”, the Israeli army said in reference to Hamas.
No group has however claimed responsibility for the rocket, reportedly the first fired in a month. The Israeli military said the rocket landed in an open area near Israel’s separation fence on Saturday evening without causing casualties or damage to property.
The air attack on Gaza follows outrage over the shooting at point-blank range of a young Palestinian man, Ammar Mufleh, 23, by an Israeli soldier in broad daylight on Friday, which was captured on video.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the shooting of Mufleh as tantamount to an execution. Palestinian activists and social media users are using the hashtag “Huwara Execution” in Arabic, calling for a response to crimes by Israeli forces.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, released a statement saying he was “greatly concerned about the increasing level of violence in the occupied West Bank”.
“During the last days alone, 10 Palestinians have been killed by ISF (Israeli Security Forces). Yesterday’s tragic killing of a Palestinian man, Ammar Mifleh, by a member of the ISF (Israeli Security Forces) was the latest example,” Borrell said.
“Such unacceptable facts must be investigated and there must be full accountability. Under international law, lethal force is only justified in situations in which there exists a serious and imminent threat to life,” he said.
At least 207 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem so far this year.
