The Israeli military reported on Wednesday (February 1) that sirens blared across southern Israel and a rocket was intercepted from Gaza as tensions grew between the Palestinians and the nation’s new ultra-nationalist government.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the city of Sderot and the area around the Gaza Strip heard sirens, according to an army statement. He claimed that Israel’s Iron Dome defense system successfully intercepted the projectile.
Locals claimed to have heard explosions. The only confirmed injury, according to Israel’s emergency agency, was suffered by a 50-year-old woman who tripped and fell as she ran to a shelter.
Following a recent uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence and a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israel saw air combat on Wednesday.
People, mostly militants, were killed last week during an Israeli military operation in a militant stronghold in the West Bank city of Jenin. The next day, seven people were killed in a shootout by Palestinians in a Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem. Two Israelis were wounded over the weekend in a separate shooting in east Jerusalem by a 13-year-old Palestinian.
After the riots, Israel enacted many punitive measures against the Palestinians, escalating tensions just as Blinken began consulting with the authorities.
Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stated that he will continue to apply his harsh tactics against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails despite rocket fire from Gaza. To discuss a solution, he requested an urgent meeting of the Security Cabinet.
(With contributions from agencies)
