JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants fired rocket barrages that wounded an Israeli baby Wednesday, and Israel retaliated with airstrikes that killed two Gaza fighters.
The new round of violence began last Thursday when gunmen, apparently from Gaza, crossed the border from Egypt and ambushed cars and buses in southern Israel, killing eight people. That was followed by massive Palestinian rocket attacks and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmia said a member of the Islamic Jihad group was killed Wednesday evening in Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military said “aircraft targeted a terrorist squad that fired rockets into Israel.”
Israeli aircraft killed another Islamic Jihad fighter before dawn on Wednesday, Hamas security officials said. The Israeli military said the dead man had smuggled weapons into Gaza and was involved in militant activity in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, near Israel’s southern border.
Palestinians fired more than a dozen rockets into Israel Wednesday, sending residents in Ashkelon and elsewhere in the south running for cover. A baby was injured by shrapnel from one of the Palestinian rockets, Israel’s rescue service said.
Israeli media reported security forces sent reinforcements to the area. A music festival that was to be held in the southern city of Ashkelon was cancelled, conforming with military recommendations against large gatherings in tense security times,.