JERUSALEM — Israeli jets hit targets in Gaza Thursday after increased rocket fire from there as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians flared to their worst level in years after the suspected murder of an Arab teenager by Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem.
The Israeli military issued a statement saying it had hit 15 specific targets — concealed rocket launchers and weapons storage facilities — in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Israel, the U.S. and the European Union have labeled a terrorist organization. Several people were injured in the airstrikes on overcrowded Gaza.
Israeli airstrikes came in retaliation for increased rocket fire from Gaza on Israel, which partially destroyed a residential building Wednesday evening, the military said.
The exchange of fire between the two sides comes after tensions flared following the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager Wednesday. Although Israeli police have not confirmed whether the murder was an act of revenge by extremist Jews or a criminal act, residents of the teen’s neighborhood in east Jerusalem, from where the teenager was taken, insisted Jewish settlers were behind the grisly death. The teenager’s charred body was later found in a forested park in the city.
The death sparked the worst clashes in years between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in east Jerusalem, the tense Arab part of the city where Palestinians hope to establish the capital of any Palestinian state. Young Palestinians mostly hurled stones and set fire to structures there. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and rubber bullets throughout the day Wednesday.
After Israeli police discovered a body believed to be 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khudair, violent clashes broke out Wednesday between angry Palestinians and Israeli forces. ( / Reuters)
The teenager, from east Jerusalem's Shufat neighborhood, was due to be buried Thursday.
The death of the Palestinian youth came after the discovery of the bodies of three Israeli teenagers who were abducted near a settlement on the West Bank 18 days earlier. The Israeli teenagers were found in a shallow grave near the tense West Bank city of Hebron.
Israel’s security cabinet met for the third time in as many days Wednesday to discuss Israel’s response to the murder of the three. No details from the meeting were published. The recent tit-for-tat exchange of fire in Gaza is not expected to be Israel’s response.
The killing of the three Israeli teenagers sparked national outrage and a collective mourning in Israel.
Israel squarely blames Hamas for the killings and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed the group that runs Gaza will pay dearly for what it’s done. Hamas has denied involvement. Palestinian leaders on the West Bank have accused Israel of making all Palestinians pay for the killings.
The abduction of the Israeli teenagers sparked an Israeli security sweep across the West Bank not seen in years. Israeli troops carried out hundreds of arrest raids. Seven Palestinians were killed and almost 200 wounded between June 13 and July 1 on the West Bank, according to the U.N.'s aid agency in east Jerusalem.
With tempers running at fever pitch, incitement and racism has been rampant on Israeli social media. In response, the Israeli police said it was launching an investigation into calls
for revenge by Israeli Jews against Arabs, Israel radio reported.
On Tuesday evening and throughout the day Wednesday, right-wing Israelis held impromptu demonstrations in Jerusalem calling for “Death to Arabs” and demanding the government exact a collective punishment on Palestinians for the murders of the three Israeli teens.
Hundreds of Jerusalem residents – both Arabs and Jews – counteracted the hate protests Wednesday, rallying against racism and calls for revenge. High level officials spoke at the rally, including Israel’s Chief Rabbi David Lau. He said that revenge was morally wrong and warned that such acts could endanger the entire region.
There was wide condemnation of the tit-for-tat murders of teenagers around the world Wednesday.
“Killing children and deliberate violence against them are unpardonable crimes for which perpetrators must be held accountable,” the United Nation’s children’s agency, UNICEF, said in a statement. The statement referred to the killing of the Arab teenager as well as to the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens.
Daniela Deane reported from London.
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