A rocket fired from the Palestinian territory of Gaza was intercepted by the Israeli air defense system on Wednesday, the day after the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who urged Israelis and Palestinians to avoid further escalation.
The Israeli army had previously reported that warning sirens had sounded in the Israeli city of Sderot (south) and in the area around Gaza.
“A rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip.
The rocket was intercepted by the army's air defense system,”
a military statement said.
"Lower the temperature"
The shooting was not immediately claimed by armed groups in the Gaza Strip, a territory of 2.3 million inhabitants under Israeli blockade since 2007.
“I request an urgent meeting of the (security) cabinet this evening to consider ways to respond to the rocket fire from Gaza”
, reacted in a press release the Minister of National Security and figure of the extreme right in Israel, Itamar Ben Gvir.
On Friday, the Israeli army had carried out strikes against the infrastructure of the Islamist movement Hamas in power in Gaza, after firing rockets into Israeli territory.
There had been no casualties.
The firefights followed the deadliest Israeli raid in years in the West Bank on Thursday.
Ten people, combatants and civilians, died in this operation in the Jenin refugee camp (north of the West Bank).
In the aftermath, seven people died Friday in a Palestinian attack in East Jerusalem, an area occupied and annexed by Israel.
And on Saturday a Palestinian injured two Israelis, a father and his son, also in East Jerusalem, before being injured and arrested.
In the West Bank, Israeli guards killed a Palestinian on Sunday and Israeli forces killed a Palestinian on Monday.
"All parties must take steps to prevent a further escalation of violence and restore calm
," Antony Blinken said Tuesday at the end of his Middle Eastern tour during which he met with Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian officials.
Read alsoIsrael: the Supreme Court invalidates the appointment of a minister of Netanyahu
He announced that members of his team would remain in the region to continue discussions, with a view to taking
"concrete measures"
,
"to lower the temperature, promote greater cooperation and strengthen security".
The escalation of the last few days came after the deadliest year since 2005 in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, according to the UN.
In 2022, the violence left 235 dead, nearly 90% Palestinian, according to an AFP count established from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
In August 2021, 49 Palestinians were killed in three days in Gaza during an escalation between the armed group Islamic Jihad and Israel.
In Gaza, the Hamas movement judged that Antony Blinken's visit reflected
“absolute support”
for the
Israeli
“occupation” .
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