Palestinian activist Khader Adnan, who has been affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PJI) group, died Tuesday in an Israeli prison following a hunger strike that lasted 86 days. In response to his death, armed supporters fired rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel.
Adnan, who had been frequently imprisoned over the last 20 years, had been in an Israeli prison awaiting trial on charges of supporting terrorism, affiliation with a terrorist group and incitement, when he died. While imprisoned, Adnan went on a three-month hunger strike motivated by his opposition to his detention. In the wake of his death, supporters gathered on streets in the West Bank in support and mourning of Adnan. Supporters claimed his death was an assassination.
In Gaza, an armed group of supporters launched two waves of rockets towards Israel. In response, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) sounded sirens in Southern Israel. In the early hours of Adan’s death, suporter fired three rockets, to which the IDF responded with “tank fire” in Gaza. Following this, militants in Gaza fired another 21 rockets, of which the IDF stated that four were intercepted by the Aerial Defence Array, and 16 landed in open areas. Despite the intervention, a building in the southern city of Sderot was damaged and three southern workers were wounded.
Following today’s events, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu organized a security assessment at the Glilot Base at Camp Dayan to address the situation.