Israeli aircraft pounded 10 militant targets in Gaza in response to Palestinian projectile fire, its army said Sunday, shattering a ceasefire reached just days ago after the worst flare-up since a 2014 war.
The latest escalation came hours after thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral of a young female volunteer medic killed by Israeli fire in violence on the border in southern Gaza.
Israeli "fighter jets targeted 10 terror sites in three military compounds belonging to the Hamas terror organisation in the Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement early Sunday.
"Among the targets were two Hamas munition manufacturing and storage sites and a military compound," the army said.
The strikes were retaliation to rockets fired at Israel, as well as "various terror activities approved and orchestrated by the Hamas terror organisation over the weekend," the army said.
The army listed a series of attempted attacks at soldiers on the border fence, as well as "damaging security infrastructure and igniting fires in Israeli territory with the use of arson kites and balloons".
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Gaza.
On Saturday evening, militants in the Palestinian enclave fired two projectiles at southern Israel, where air raid sirens sent residents to bomb shelters.
The Iron Dome aerial defence system intercepted one of the projectiles, while the other was believed to have fallen short of its target and hit within Gaza, according to the army.
Early Sunday, two more projectiles were separately launched at Israel. Both were intercepted, the army said.
Thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral Saturday of a young female volunteer medic killed by Israeli fire in violence on the border in southern Gaza.
Father Razan al-Najjar holds her medic's jacket covered with blood during her funeral. Source: AFP
Hours later, Israel said militants in the Palestinian enclave fired projectiles at the south of the country, raising fears of a fresh escalation just days after a ceasefire brought an end to the worst flare-up since a 2014 war.
Razan al-Najjar, 21, a volunteer with the Gaza health ministry, was fatally shot in the chest near Khan Yunis on Friday.
Ambulances and medical crews attended the funeral, with Najjar's father holding the white blood-stained medics' jacket she wore when she was shot, as mourners called for revenge.
Israeli troops have shot dead more than 120 Gazans since March 30 during border protests demanding the return of Palestinians to land they fled or were expelled from during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.
The Israeli army said that the demonstrations on Friday at which Najjar was killed included "thousands of rioters" at five locations along the border, "burning tyres... and attempting to damage security infrastructure".
Shots were fired at an army vehicle and a Palestinian had crossed into Israel, planted a grenade and returned to Gaza, it said.
The army said that cases such as Najjar's "in which civilians are allegedly killed" by Israeli fire "are thoroughly examined" by an internal military committee.
'War crime'
The UN envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, said in a tweet that "Medical workers are #NotATarget!" and that "Israel needs to calibrate its use of force and Hamas need to prevent incidents at the fence."
The Palestinian Medical Relief Society said Najjar was shot "as she was attempting to provide first aid to an injured protester", with three other first responders also hit by live fire on Friday.
"Shooting at medical personnel is a war crime under the Geneva conventions," the PMRC said in a statement, demanding "an immediate international response to Israeli humanitarian law violations in Gaza".
Najjar's death brings the toll of Gazans killed by Israeli fire since the end of March to 123.
The mother of Palestinian nurse Razan al-Najjar mourns during the funeral. Source: Getty
The demonstrations and violence peaked on May 14 when at least 61 Palestinians were killed in clashes as tens of thousands of Gazans protested the US transfer of its embassy in Israel to the disputed city of Jerusalem the same day.
Low-level demonstrations have continued since.
Speaking at Najjar's funeral, Khaled al-Batsh, one of the protest organisers, called on Gazans to "continue the return marches and break the (Israeli) siege with peaceful tools".
Razan al-Najjar was allegedly shot dead in Israeli fire on Friday. Source: Twitter
The demonstrations have been accompanied by smaller clashes as youths hurl stones at Israeli soldiers and attempt to breach the border fence, at times laying explosive devices on the fence or throwing grenades.
Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave have also been using kites carrying cans on fire to set ablaze Israeli fields, torching extensive patches of agricultural land near Gaza.
