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Itongadol.- Tensions rose on Israel\’s border with the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday as Palestinian militants and the Israel Air Force traded strikes: the IAF responded to a barrage of rockets earlier in the night with 15 air strikes on Gaza targets, and foreign media reported casualties.
Nine of the overnight rockets hit Israeli territory, one of them striking a residential building in Sderot, while two others were intercepted by the Iron Dome above Netivot. Another rocket fired in the morning scored a direct hit on another house in Sderot, causing damage but no casualties.
Jerusalem was high in tension as well, following a day of harsh clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators after the body of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was found early Tuesday in a nearby orest bearing signs of violence.
The incident appears to have been a revenge kidnapping and murder carried out by right-wing Israeli extremists. However, police have not yet ascertained whether the killing was nationalistic or criminally motivated. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a swift investigation into the incident and has warned vigilantes "not to take the law into their own hands."