Hamas said the Israeli bombing would only encourage Palestinians to ‘resist the occupation and increase support for Jerusalem and its people’.
According to eyewitnesses, Israel has carried out air strikes in central Gaza for the second time this week, with the military saying its warplanes hit an underground complex used to produce engines. rocket.
The raids took place before dawn on Thursday.
There were no reports of casualties.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the attacks damaged several houses near one of the targeted sites in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Earlier in the night, a rocket fired from Gaza hit southern Israel, causing minor damage to a house but no injuries, Israeli police said. The Israeli military said four more rockets were also fired from Gaza after air strikes on the besieged coastal area, but were intercepted by air defenses.
No Palestinian faction has claimed responsibility for the rocket launches.
In a statement, Hamas, the group that administers Gaza, said the Israeli bombing would only encourage Palestinians to “resist the occupation and increase support for Jerusalem and its people”.
Rising violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory has raised fears of a potential return to broader conflict, following last year’s 11-day Israel-Gaza war in which more than 250 Palestinians in Gaza and 13 in Israel were killed.
In March, Israeli forces was killed At least 29 Palestinians in raids into the West Bank after 14 people in Israel were killed in street attacks.
Israeli riot police also storm The Al-Aqsa mosque complex – a site revered by Muslims and Jews – last week, left at least 158 Palestinians injured.
Tensions have been high this year in part because the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with the Jewish Passover.
Palestinians accuse Israel of encroachment at Al-Aqsa by allowing Jewish worshipers to enter the holy site. They say the move violates a centuries-old policy under which non-Muslims can visit but not pray.
Israeli leaders say they are guaranteeing freedom of worship for all religions in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam and is also revered by Jews as the site of two ancient temples.
The Palestinians want occupied East Jerusalem, which includes Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, as the capital of a future state.
Israel, which annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally after capturing the area in a war in 1967, considers all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital.
