Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed a 58-year-old man and wounded five others on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials said, even as the latest spasm of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the enclave appeared to ebb. Israeli fighter jets struck targets in Gaza in response to salvos of rockets launched by Palestinian militants at Israeli territory on Tuesday. But after sunrise, the violence seemed to subside as both sides signaled they wanted to avoid a wider conflict.
The exchange erupted when a prominent Palestinian detainee died in Israeli custody after an 87-day hunger strike. The death of Khader Adnan, 45, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group credited with popularizing hunger strikes as an effective form of activism, reverberated across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where he is revered as a national hero.
Protests erupted at Israeli military checkpoints and a general strike shuttered stores across the territories. Palestinians and rights groups have blamed Israel for his death, accusing prison authorities of medical negligence.
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired 100 rockets into southern Israel late Tuesday, seriously wounding a foreign worker at a construction site. The Israeli military said its warplanes struck tunnels, arms production sites and military installations belonging to the ruling Hamas militant group in Gaza. The Israeli strikes sent shrapnel slicing through the house of 58-year-old Hashil Mubarak in Gaza City, his son Hatem said. As their roof collapsed, shards of metal struck Mubarak’s chest, killing him, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Mubarak was rushed to the hospital and could not be resuscitated.
“We were sleeping at home safe and sound when we heard a giant explosion from a missile,” Hatem recalled as mourners filled his neighborhood mosque and took turns bending down to kiss his father’s forehead.
“He was martyred,” he said. After a quiet few hours, the Israeli military announced that residents in southern towns no longer needed to remain close to bomb shelters. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem thanked Palestinian militants for “confronting Israeli aggression and concluding the round of the conflict.” The UN’s envoy to the Mideast, Tor Wennesland, said he welcomed “the restoration of calm” after a violent 12 hours. “Had our efforts failed, we would risk being in the midst of another deadly escalation,” he said. But not everyone welcomed the calm. Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir lambasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over what he described as a weak response to the rocket fire from Gaza. Ben-Gvir’s party, called Jewish Power, announced that its members would boycott all parliament voting on Wednesday in protest.
Netanyahu hit back at Ben-Gvir, saying that only the prime minister, defense minister and security forces are tasked with handling “the sensitive and complex security events” in Israel.