Terrorists in Gaza fired projectiles at Israel on Saturday drawing retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Hamas positions, the Israeli military said, a few days after the area's most intense fighting in years.
At least four projectiles were fired from Gaza at Israel, the military said in a statement, adding that three were intercepted and one fell short.
Rocket alerts sounded in Israeli towns and villages near the border after dark, sending residents rushing to shelters. None of Gaza's militant groups claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.
Residents in Gaza said Israeli aircraft hit at least three posts belonging to Hamas, the Islamist group which controls the enclave.
The Israeli military confirmed in a statement it had carried out the airstrikes, adding that "the Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for all events that transpire in the Gaza Strip and emanate from it."
There were no immediate reports of casualties in any of the incidents.
Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza reached a de facto cease-fire last week after the most intense flare-up of hostilities since a 2014 war, both sides signaling they did not want a wider escalation.
Militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired dozens of rockets and mortar bombs at southern Israel on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday, to which Israel responded with tank fire and air strikes on more than 50 targets in Gaza.
Violence along the Israel-Gaza frontier has surged in recent weeks. At least 120 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops during mass demonstrations along the Gaza border that began on March 30.
Israel, which has drawn international condemnation for its use of deadly force, asserts that the majority of those killed were Hamas members and militants trying to launch attacks under cover of the protests.
Meanwhile Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had launched an investigation into the death of Razan Najjar, a 21-year-old Palestinian paramedic who was killed on Friday by Israeli gunfire during demonstrations on the border with the Gaza Strip.
The military said demonstrators hurled grenades and pipe bombs at troops behind the border fence. Some 40 Palestinians were wounded and Najjar was the only one killed.
The Khan Younis hospital said Najjar had a gunshot wound in the chest with an exit wound in the back.
According to the IDF, the incident will be investigated under the supervision of the military's general staff. The findings of the probe will then be submitted to the Military Advocate General.
The military said its troops operated "in accordance with standard operating procedures."
While Israel insists that throughout the weekslong campaign its troops have fired only at instigators, military officials have acknowledged shooting some people by mistake due to the crowded and smoky conditions of the protests.
Thousands of people attended Najjar's funeral on Saturday in Gaza. Her body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag and carried through the streets on a stretcher by mourners.
"With our souls and blood we redeem you, martyr Razan," mourners cried as her body was brought to her home for a last farewell before burial. They also called to "avenge the murder of the martyr Razan by the Zionist enemy."
Gazan health officials and witnesses said Israeli forces shot her dead east of the south Gaza city of Khan Younis as she ran with her arms in the air to show she was unarmed towards the border fence to treat an injured Gazan.
"The whole world saw what happened to my daughter and I call for international protection," Najjar's mother, Sabreen Najjar, said on Saturday. "Where is this international protection? Where are human rights? How was my daughter a threat?"
Gesturing at her daughter's medical equipment, she said, "This is her weapon. This is my daughter's weapon, this is what she was resisting with – on what basis did the soldier kill her? She has been targeted since the first day of protests. She has survived death so many times, she would come and tell me what she went through. May God reckon with every person who is silent about this."
After Najjar's funeral, dozens of mourners headed to the fence and started throwing stones at Israeli soldiers on the other side. The Gazan Health Ministry said five protesters were wounded by Israeli fire.
Izzat Shatat, 23, a volunteering ambulance worker, said he and Najjar were set to announce their engagement at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. He said he was worried and asked her not to go to the border area Friday but she refused.
"She helped all people. She has never refused to help. She was the first to run toward anybody when he is shot," he said in tears.
On social media, Palestinians uploaded posts with images of Najjar shortly before she was shot giving medical aid to Palestinian demonstrators who were injured.
"The killing of a clearly identified medical staffer by security forces during a demonstration is particularly reprehensible," said Jamie McGoldrick, the local U.N. humanitarian coordinator.
MK Ahmed Tibi (Joint Arab List) claimed that Najjar's death is "a despicable war crime committed by a cowardly and criminal sniper who saw a nurse with a white robe and pulled the trigger."
Also on Saturday, in Haifa and Wadi Ara, areas with significant Arab populations, rallies were held in solidarity with Gaza. Organized by Israeli Arab political parties, the Arab Higher Monitoring committee and left-wing groups, demonstrators called to lift the blockade on Gaza.
Jafar Farah, the head of the Mossawa Center nongovernmental organization, which advocates for the rights of Arab citizens in Israel, participated in the Haifa rally. Farah recently made headlines for claiming his leg was broken by a police officer who hit him he was being arrested. Joint Arab List MKs Jamal Zahalka and Hanin Zoabi also made appearances at the rally, calling for an international investigation into sniper fire targeting Gaza demonstrators.
