Israel and Gaza exchange of fire follows deadly West Bank raid

Palestinian militants in Gaza launched rockets at southern Israel and Israeli aircraft struck targets in the coastal enclave early Thursday after a gunbattle triggered by an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank killed 10 PalestiniansThe bloodshed extends one of the deadliest periods in years in the West Bank where dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the year Palestinian attacks on Israelis in 2023 have killed 11 peopleThe Israeli military said Palestinian militants fired six rockets and two antiaircraft missiles from the Gaza Strip toward the countrys south early Thursday Air defences intercepted five of the rockets and one landed in an open field according to the military The missiles did not hit their targets The attacks were not immediately claimed by Palestinian militant groupsIsraeli aircraft then struck several targets in northern and central Gaza including a weapons manufacturing site and a military compound belonging to the Hamas militant group that rules the enclave There were no reports of injuries in Israel or Gaza from the rocket attacks or strikesThe violence comes in the first weeks of Israels new farright government which has promised to take a tough line against Palestinians and as security forces step up arrest raids of wanted militants in the West Bank Israel says the raids begun in the wake of a series of deadly Palestinian attacks last spring are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future assaultsBut the operations have shown few signs of slowing the violence and Wednesdays resulted in one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a year in the West Bank and east Jerusalem raising the likelihood of further bloodshedWe have a clear policy to strike terror powerfully and to deepen our roots in our land Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his Cabinet We will settle accounts with whoever harms Israeli citizensIsraeli police stepped up security in sensitive areas on Thursday while Hamas said its patience was iquestrunning outiquest Islamic Jihad another militant group vowed to retaliate A day after a raid in January on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank that killed 10 Palestinians a Palestinian shot and killed seven people outside a synagogue in east JerusalemOn Thursday police said security guards at the entrance to a West Bank settlement shot and lightly wounded a woman who police said attempted to stab the guardsAlso read Nine Palestinians killed several hurt in Israeli West Bank raidAmong the 10 killed in Wednesdays raid in Nablus were Palestinian men aged 72 and 61 and a 16yearold boy according to health officials Scores of others were wounded Various Palestinian militant groups claimed six of the dead as membersThere was no immediate word on whether the others belonged to armed groups Officials also said a 66yearold man died from tear gas inhalation In response to the raid a strike was called across the West Bank and schools universities and shops all shut down in protest Schools and universities in Gaza and most shops in east Jerusalem were also closedIsrael captured the West Bank along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war The Palestinians seek those territories for their hopedfor independent stateThe Israeli military said it entered Nablus the West Banks commercial centre and a city known as a militant stronghold to arrest three militants suspected in previous shooting attacks The main suspect was wanted in the killing of an Israeli soldier last fallWednesdays fourhour operation left a broad swath of damage in a centuriesold marketplace in Nablus In the Old City shops were riddled with bullets parked cars were crushed and blood stained the cement ruins Furniture from the destroyed home was scattered among mounds of debrisThe influx of wounded overwhelmed the citys Najah Hospital said Ahmad Aswad the head nurse of the cardiology departmentIn one emotional scene a medic pronounced a man dead only to notice the lifeless patient was his father Elsewhere an amateur video showed two men apparently unarmed being shot as they ran in the street Military spokesman Lt Col Richard Hecht said the armed forces were looking into itAs the bodies were paraded through the crowd on stretchers thousands of people packed the streets chanting in support of the militants Masked men fired into the airThe fighting comes at a sensitive time less than two months after Netanyahus new hardline government took office It presents an early challenge for Netanyahu who on top of spiralling violence is also facing waves of protests from Israelis against a plan to overhaul the countrys justice systemThe government is dominated by ultranationalists who have pushed for tougher action against Palestinian militants and vowed to entrench Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank including by ramping up settlement construction on lands Palestinians seek for their future state Israeli media have quoted top security officials as expressing concern that the harder line could lead to even more violence as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approachesAbout 60 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year according to a tally by The Associated PressLast year nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in those areas making it the deadliest year there since 2004 according to figures by the Israeli rights group BTselem Some 30 people on the Israeli side were killed in Palestinian attacks Israel says most of those killed were militants But young people protesting the raids and others not involved in the confrontations have also been killedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever