Israel intercepts rocket from Gaza Strip, raises tensions under country’s new ultranationalist government

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Militants fired a rocket into Israel’s south on Wednesday, the army said, setting off sirens and raising already heightened tensions under the country’s new ultranationalist government.

The rocket from the Gaza Strip was intercepted, according to the military. Israel usually responds to rocket fire with airstrikes, raising the possibility of further escalation.

Local residents reported hearing explosions. Israel’s rescue service said it received no reports of injuries except for a 50-year-old woman who slipped and fell while running to a shelter.

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Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, said the rocket fire from Gaza won’t stop him from implementing his punitive policies against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. He called for an urgent Security Cabinet meeting to discuss a response.

A rocket was fired at Israel’s south from the Gaza Strip but was intercepted.
(AP Photo)

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The action in Israel’s skies Wednesday came after a spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent days and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited with a call for calm.

An Israeli military raid on a militant stronghold in the West Bank city of Jenin last week killed 10, most of them militants. The next day, a Palestinian shooting attack in an east Jerusalem Jewish settlement killed seven people. A separate east Jerusalem shooting over the weekend by a 13-year-old Palestinian wounded two Israelis.

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Following the unrest, Israel approved a series of punitive steps against the Palestinians, further ratcheting up tensions just as Blinken began meetings with leaders.