JERUSALEM – Gaza militants on Tuesday fired a rocket into Israel for the first time in three months, rattling a cross-border truce that has held since Israel’s military offensive against the Hamas-run territory.
Israel closed Gaza’s main cargo crossing until further notice, an apparent warning to Gaza’s Hamas rulers to clamp down on rocket squads.
“Quiet will be met with quiet, missiles will be met with a response,” said Israeli President Shimon Peres, adding that he believes both sides “have a deep interest in lowering the flames.”
Militants claiming affiliation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, took responsibility.
They said in an email to journalists that they fired the rocket to avenge the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody.
The detainee, Arafat Jaradat, 30, died over the weekend after interrogation by Israel’s Shin Bet security services. Palestinian officials, citing an autopsy, said the detainee was tortured, while Israel says more tests are needed to determine the cause of death.
U.N. political chief Jeffrey Feltman called for a independent investigation into Jaradat’s death. He also called the rocket fire from Gaza “troubling” and appealed to Israel to “exercise maximum restraint.”
The rocket from Gaza landed south of the Israeli city of Ashkelon early Tuesday, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The rocket caused damage to a road but no injuries, he said.
It was the first rocket fired from Gaza since Israel’s military offensive against rocket squads in the coastal strip last November.
Click to enlarge