Israeli air strikes kill 2 after Gaza rocket attack
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli air strikes killed two Hamas members Saturday following a rocket attack on Israel, in the latest fallout from President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — a development that has roiled the region and the larger Muslim world.
The Israeli military said it targeted four Hamas facilities in response to rockets fired the previous night, including one that landed in the town of Sderot without causing casualties or major damage. The military said it struck warehouses and weapons manufacturing sites, after which Hamas said it had recovered the bodies of two of its men.
Israel considers Hamas responsible for all rocket fire emanating from Gaza, which is home to other armed groups. Some residents of Sderot and other border towns spent the night in shelters, fearful of a resumption of rocket attacks from Gaza that have led to three Israel-Hamas wars over the past decade.
Protests and demonstrations continued across the West Bank and Gaza on Saturday on the third and final Palestinian “day of rage” following Trump’s announcement. The military said there were clashes in some 20 locations. In Bethlehem, Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. The Israeli military said 600 Palestinians were throwing firebombs and rolling burning tires toward Israeli forces. It said it dispersed the crowds and arrested six rioters.
Along the border with the Gaza Strip, about 450 Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops at eight main locations. About 20 were lightly wounded. Some 4,000 demonstrators gathered in Gaza City and demonstrations resumed in Pakistan, Turkey and elsewhere across the Muslim world as well.
“President Trump cannot take what he doesn’t have,” said Zuheir Dana, one of the protesters from east Jerusalem.
Saturday saw a drop in the scope of the protests after clashes erupted Friday between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops in dozens of West Bank hotspots and along the Gaza border. Two Palestinians were shot dead in Gaza and dozens were wounded in the West Bank.
Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem, and his intention to move the U.S. Embassy there, triggered denunciations from around the world, with even close allies suggesting he had needlessly stirred more conflict in an already volatile region.