Israeli army raid on West Bank sends tensions soaring
Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday in response to militant rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, as tensions rise following the deadliest army raid on the occupied West Bank in years. "The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is currently striking in the Gaza strip," an army statement read. Security sources in Hamas-controlled Gaza told AFP there had been 15 strikes targeting militant sites, with no injuries reported. Witnesses said Israeli aircraft had targeted a Hamas training camp. Palestinian militants earlier on Friday fired two rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel that were intercepted by missile defences. The cross-border fire came after an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on Thursday that led to the largest single death toll in years of fighting. Tensions flared after Israeli commandos killed seven gunmen and two civilians during the raid on the flashpoint town of Jenin. Hamas and the smaller militant group Islamic Jihad promised a response, but there was no immediate claim for the rocket fire. After the Jenin violence, the Palestinian Authority said it was ending its security coordination with Israel, an arrangement that is widely credited with helping to keep order in the West Bank and preventing attacks against Israel. It has frozen the cooperation numerous times in protest. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was not looking to escalate the situation, though he ordered security forces to be on alert. US, UN and Arab officials spoke with Israel and Palestinian factions to try to keep the clash in Jenin, among areas of the West Bank that have seen intensified Israeli operations, from sparking a broader confrontation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to arrive in the region on Sunday for talks in both Israel and the West Bank. Violence has surged since a series of lethal Palestinian street attacks in Israel last March and April. The attendant diplomatic stalemate has helped rally Palestinian support for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which refuse coexistence with Israel - where Netanyahu's new hard-right government includes members opposed to Palestinian statehood. (Reuters, AFP)