Israeli jets attacked Gaza on Friday after Palestinian jihadists took credit for overnight rocket attacks against Israel as tensions flare following deadly raids on the West Bank.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Organization took responsibility for the rocket attacks, which claimed no victims, according to Reuters. Israeli jets retaliated with airstrikes on Gaza on Friday, but there were no reports of deaths in that attack either. Israel said its airstrikes targeted a Hamas rocket manufacturing site and base.
Israel has launched multiple air attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip a day after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp https://t.co/6JP4LeHUgY pic.twitter.com/esBykiZlJ4
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 27, 2023
Israeli security forces have killed at least 30 Palestinians so far in 2023, according to Reuters. The Palestinian rocket attacks followed a Thursday raid in the West Bank in which Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians in the refugee camp of Jenin.
Of the nine dead, at least two were civilians, according to Reuters. Another man was killed in a separate event outside Jerusalem. The single-day death toll was the highest in the West Bank in years.
Thousands of supporters of Islamic Jihad demonstrated Friday after prayers. (RELATED: ‘Unprecedented Provocation’: Israeli Security Minister Enters Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, Defying Hamas)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel to the Middle East this weekend, a trip that has been scheduled for several weeks. It has taken on new importance, however, in light of the recent violence, with the State Department saying it is “deeply concerned” by recent developments. Blinken will visit Egypt, Israel and the West Bank.