{Two Palestinians have been injured when they were hit by an air strike on Gaza, amid reports that Tel Aviv has plans to escalate attacks on the strip.}<\/p>\n
Israeli rockets targeted a motorcycle in Gaza’s northern neighbourhood of Saftawi on Sunday, leaving its rider, a 22-year-old man, in critical condition. <\/p>\n
Israel confirmed the attack in a statement issued by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The motorcycle passenger was identified by the IDF as Ahmad Sa’ad, who it accuses of being a senior operative in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PJI) and who it says is to blame for cross-border rocket attacks last week.<\/p>\n
“The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) successfully targeted a terrorist operative involved in recent attacks against Israel and was planning further attacks in the coming days,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military blames Sa’ad for firing five rockets towards southern Israel on January 16. The rockets were intercepted by the army’s Iron Dome anti-missile system. The rockets caused no injuries or damage. <\/p>\n
“The IDF operated in order to eliminate an imminent threat to the lives of Israeli civilians,” the IDF statement said.<\/p>\n
Another victim was a 12-year-old boy who happened to be nearby, Gaza emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.<\/p>\n
Threats of attacks<\/p>\n
There was no confirmation from Gaza that the wounded man was Sa\u2019ad or that he belonged to PJI, with sources in the movement also refusing to comment on the strike.<\/p>\n
The morning strike followed two more overnight, and amid fears that the strip will witness an escalation in attacks in near future.<\/p>\n
An Egyptian mediator delievered a threat message from Israel to Gaza’s leadership, sources have told Al Jazeera. <\/p>\n
On January 8, an PJI fighter was killed near Gaza City in what medics and family said was an Israeli drone strike, but the army denied any involvement.<\/p>\n
Since the start of the year, tensions have risen in and around Gaza after a year of relative calm, with five people killed since December 20. Four of the victims were Palestinian and one was Israeli.<\/p>\n
Since January 1, eight rockets fired from Gaza have landed in Israel with another five intercepted by Iron Dome last Thursday.<\/p>\n
Source:
\n Al Jazeera and agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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