RAMALLAH: On Sunday, violence continued between Israeli military forces and armed Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip. According to Ma'an News Agency, two fighters from the Gaza-based militant group Islamic Jihad were killed by Israeli airstrikes early Sunday morning. The two deaths put the total toll at six since the outbreak of this latest round of violence. The Israeli Defense Forces spokesman reported that 77 rockets have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel since yesterday, adding that, “Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip have dramatically escalated their attacks against Israel—firing an anti-tank missile at an IDF jeep as well as launching barrages of rockets at Israeli civilians." The exchanges began on Saturday when an IDF jeep was hit by an anti-tank missile near the border in northern Gaza. Both Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was a justified response to the killing of a Palestinian child on Thursday. Israeli military forces responded by shelling a mourning tent in Gaza City, where several civilians had gathered to in support of a Gazan man who recently lost a family member. Four Palestinian civilians were killed, while 26 were injured, 10 of which are reported to be hospitalized in critical condition. Rocket strikes from Gaza were responded to with at least nine Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, namely around the Jubaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. A Hamas spokesman condemned Israel's targeting of civilians and vowed that it “must not pass in silence." On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu threatened to escalate the conflict. “We will not sit with arms crossed when faced with attempts to hurt us," he told a group of Israeli ministers at a weekly cabinet meeting. “We are prepared to intensify our response."
