Israel conducted a series of air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night in response to rocket attacks that were launched from the area following the death of a prominent Palestinian hunger striker in an Israeli prison. The former Islamic Jihad spokesman, Khader Adnan, died after an 87-day hunger strike in custody. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, and in response, its fighter jets targeted multiple Hamas sites, including a military post, weapon storage, weapon manufacturing sites, and a training facility. The IDF said it hit 16 targets in total and that “we attacked everything we wanted tonight.”
Sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, and rockets could be heard and seen being launched from the coastal enclave. The IDF reported that 104 rockets were launched from Gaza, with 24 being intercepted by Israel and 48 falling in open areas. The exchange of fire comes after Adnan, 45, had been on hunger strike since his arrest on February 5, and was found dead in his cell on Tuesday, according to the Israeli Prison Service. Adnan had been detained at least 11 times since 2004 and his repeated arrests and prolonged hunger strikes had made him a symbol of Palestinian resistance to Israeli detention policies.
Israel has not yet returned Adnan’s body to his family, and his family has requested that there should not be an autopsy and that the body be given to the family for burial. Adnan’s widow has pleaded for non-violence in the wake of his death. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that a 58-year-old Palestinian man was killed and five others injured in Gaza during the overnight hostilities. Earlier on Tuesday, three people were wounded by shrapnel in the Israeli city of Sderot, with one man suffering serious injuries.