Sharjah24 - AFP: Following the death in Israeli custody of a Palestinian prisoner on a hunger strike, the Israeli military launched airstrikes and engaged in gunfire with militants in Gaza on Tuesday.
The army said it hit Gaza with "tank fire" in response to rockets from the Palestinian enclave, sparking a renewed volley from Gaza witnessed by AFP journalists.
The army late on Tuesday said it was carrying out air strikes on Gaza. The raids targeted several sites, including one belonging to Islamist movement Hamas that controls the territory, according to security sources and Palestinian witnesses.
The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said it responded by firing surface-to-air missiles.
The exchange of fire came after 45-year-old prisoner Khader Adnan died, nearly three months after being detained in the occupied West Bank over his ties to the Islamic Jihad militant group.
Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh described his death as a "deliberate assassination", charging Israel had killed him "by rejecting his request for his release, neglecting him medically and keeping him in his cell, despite the seriousness of his health condition".
News of his death was initially followed by three rockets fired by militants from Gaza, the Israeli army said.
Israel's retaliatory tank fire was met with a further 22 projectiles launched from Gaza, the military reported.
A joint statement by militant factions in Gaza, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, said the rocket fire was an "initial response" to Adnan's death.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said three people were wounded with shrapnel in the Sderot area, near the Gaza border.
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