Hamas says Israel’s bombing will only make the Palestinians more determined to “resist the occupation and increase their support for Jerusalem and its people.”
According to witnesses, Israel carried out airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip for a second time this week, with the military saying its warplanes hit an underground complex where rocket engines are manufactured.
The raids took place before dawn on Thursday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the attacks damaged several houses in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Earlier in the night, a rocket fired from Gaza struck southern Israel, causing minor damage to a house but no injuries, Israeli police said. Four other rockets were also fired from Gaza, the Israeli military said after its raids on the besieged coastal enclave, but were intercepted by air defense systems.
No Palestinian faction claimed responsibility for the rocket launches.
In a statement, Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip, said Israel’s bombing will only embolden Palestinians “to resist the occupation and increase their support for Jerusalem and its people.”
Streaks of light can be seen as Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts rockets fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip [Amir Cohen/ Reuters]
A spate of violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories has raised fears it could escalate into a larger one following last year’s 11-day Israeli attack on Gaza, which killed more than 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 in Israel conflict could arise.
In March, Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinians in raids in the West Bank after 14 people were killed in street attacks in Israel.
Israeli riot police also stormed the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque last week, injuring at least 158 Palestinian Muslim worshipers.
Tensions this year have been exacerbated in part by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Palestinians accuse Israel of invading al-Aqsa by allowing Jewish worshipers into the sacred compound. They say the move violates a centuries-old policy that says non-Muslims can visit but not pray.
Israeli leaders have said they will ensure religious freedom for all religions in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam and is also revered by Jews as the site of two ancient temples.
The Palestinians want occupied East Jerusalem, including its Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, as the capital of a future state.
Israel, which annexed East Jerusalem in a move that went unrecognized internationally after seizing the area in a 1967 war, regards all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital.