Israel says its military intercepted rocket fired by militants in Gaza
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JERUSALEM• • Militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at Israel yesterday that was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the military said, in the first such attack since an 11-day war in May.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the launch, which Israel's Kan Radio said could be a response by militants in the Hamas Islamist-run enclave to the killing earlier in the day of four Palestinians during a clash with Israeli troops who carried out a raid in the occupied West Bank.
Gaza militants have sent incendiary balloons into Israel since a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting in May, drawing Israeli air strikes, but held back any rocket fire.
Yesterday's rocket launch triggered sirens in southern Israeli communities near the Gaza frontier. Israel has pledged to retaliate as a matter of policy for any attack from Gaza.
The four Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces at Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, where violence has risen over a wildcat Jewish settlement. The Israel Border Police said its forces came under fire during a search for a Palestinian suspected of involvement in alleged "terrorist" activities.
Deadly clashes have been frequent in Jenin and the flashpoint West Bank town of Beita since May, when dozens of Israeli families arrived and began constructing the wildcat settlement of Eviatar.
Israel occupied the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War and all Jewish settlements there are considered illegal by most of the international community.
Almost half a million people live in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, alongside 2.8 million Palestinians.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the four killed by Israeli gunfire as Raed Abu Seif, 21, and Saleh Ammar, 19, as well as Amjad Husseiniyah and Nureddin Jarrar.
The Palestinian presidency condemned the "heinous crime" and held the Jewish state "responsible for the escalation and its repercussions".
"The continuation of the Israeli policy will lead to an explosion of the situation, increased tensions and instability," presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina warned in a statement.
The inhabitants of Beita have held a number of demonstrations in recent weeks against the Israeli occupation and the settlement expansion, triggering violent confrontations.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
