GAZA CITY
\nAt least one person was killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday.
\nThis followed hours of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the besieged enclave following the death of a prominent hunger-striking prisoner.
\nThe victim of the bombardment was identified as Hashel Mubarak, 58, from the north of Gaza City.
\nMubarak\u2019s family said he was injured by falling debris and died at the hospital.
\nHe was the first Palestinian from Gaza to be killed since August 2022\u2019s escalation between Israel and Islamic Jihad, which lasted for three days.
\nIsraeli warplanes fired missiles at 16 sites, regarded as military installations belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in various areas of the Gaza Strip.
\nThe shelling also caused partial damage to a school and some houses adjacent to those sites.
\nAn Israeli army statement said: \u201cDuring the night hours, the IDF launched a series of raids targeting Hamas sites, compounds, and interests in the Gaza Strip, including a terrorist tunnel in Khan Yunis.\u201d
\nA tense ceasefire held on Wednesday, hours after Palestinian militants launched around 100 rockets into southern Israel in response to the death on Tuesday of Khader Adnan, 45, an Islamic Jihad leader, who had been on hunger strike while held captive by Israel for 86 days.
\nThe Palestinian factions also fired barrages of rockets toward Israeli towns during the night and during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
\nEgypt, Qatar and the UN brokered a ceasefire at 4 a.m.
\nLocal media quoted a Palestinian source as saying: \u201cThe ceasefire agreement will be simultaneous and conditional on the commitment of both parties. The agreement was the result of mediation by parties to stop the Israeli aggression.\u201d
\nIsmail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas, said he was in contact with Egypt, Qatar as well as Tor Wennesland, UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
\nIn the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops destroyed the houses of two Palestinians who it said carried out deadly attacks against Israeli civilians.
\nAfter several hours of the Gaza conflict, the military wings of Islamic Jihad and Hamas published footage of the firing of rockets at Israeli towns, as well as attempts to fire anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli warplanes.
\nHisham Qassim, a member of Hamas\u2019 political bureau, said the confrontation with the Israeli occupation proved that the \u201cPalestinian people at home and abroad are united in the face of the Israeli occupation and its aggressive policies toward the Palestinian people.\u201d
\nThe sounds of the jets and the violent Israeli bombardment in Gaza refreshed people\u2019s memory of past horrors, and they feared the outbreak of a long escalation or a fifth war.
\nRanda Abu Hamid, a housewife and mother of five children, said: \u201cIt was a very harsh night. We were watching the news and waiting for the Israeli bombing, and when we heard it, it was very terrifying. My children could not sleep until the morning hours because of fear and anxiety.\u201d
\nThe Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said on Wednesday: \u201cThe main effort of the Israeli army at the present time is concentrated in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
\n\u201cIsrael had no interest in being drawn into a large and prolonged conflict in Gaza, and more importantly, such a conflict would require the mobilization of large reserves and could continue for a long time.\u201d
\nAyman Al-Rafati, a political analyst close to Hamas, said: \u201cThe occupation is afraid of an expansion of (the) escalation. It fears that other factions might join in, making it a multifront and complicated confrontation.\u201d
\nExpressing fear that the escalation could move to the West Bank, he said: \u201cThe response to the assassination of the martyr Sheikh Khader Adnan will not stop, (and) is likely to escalate significantly in the occupied West Bank during the coming hours.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GAZA CITY At least one person was killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday. This followed hours of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the besieged enclave following the death of a prominent hunger-striking prisoner. The victim of the bombardment was identified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-329146","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n