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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell<\/p>\n
GAZA\/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A truce along the Israel-Gaza border appeared to be holding on Wednesday morning following a brief bout of fighting triggered by the death of a jailed Palestinian hunger striker.<\/p>\n
After Palestinian militants fired rockets at Israel through the night and Israeli jets struck in Gaza, a ceasefire mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations appeared to hold as the sides signalled little interest in further escalation.<\/p>\n
The exchange began on Tuesday soon after the announcement of the death of Khader Adnan, a political leader of the Islamic Jihad faction, designated by the West and Israel as a terrorist group. <\/p>\n
Adnan had been on hunger strike for 87 days as he awaited trial on security charges. He was found unconscious in his cell and taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead after efforts to revive him, Israel’s Prisons Service said.<\/p>\n
Palestinian leaders accused Israel of causing the death of Adnan, the first Palestinian hunger striker to die in Israeli custody in more than 30 years. <\/p>\n
In Gaza, armed Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket salvoes fired towards Israel, where one person was seriously injured. <\/p>\n
The Israeli military said that in response it attacked Hamas posts and weaponry sites. <\/p>\n
‘WEAK RESPONSE’<\/p>\n
A 58-year-old man died in northern Gaza city as a result of an Israeli air strike on a Hamas training camp near his house, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
His son Adam, 16, said a brick that flew dozens of yards away from the bombed site hit the zinc ceiling of one room, where he and his father slept and a large stone fell on his father’s chest.<\/p>\n
“He was unable to breathe properly. We took him to the hospital, they said he suffered an internal bleeding and died at dawn,” the son said, pointing at a hole in the ceiling and bricks on the floor.<\/p>\n
Exacerbating tensions in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, Jewish Power, the party led by far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said the strikes were “a weak response.” <\/p>\n
But with explosions rocking Gaza and rocket sirens sending Israelis fleeing to their bomb shelters, residents on both sides were weary of yet another round of fighting. <\/p>\n
“The children were terrified. This makes no sense,” said Gaza resident Sufian Kaskeen. <\/p>\n
\n(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Maayan Lubell; editing by William Maclean)<\/p>\n
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