(JNS) A 25-year-old civilian was seriously wounded on Tuesday by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip into the southern Israeli city of Sderot.
The victim was evacuated in critical condition to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, the Magen David Adom emergency medical service said.
“The injured man was lying on the ground floor of the construction site, unconscious and suffering from shrapnel injuries to his body,” said an MDA first-responder.
Two other civilians were lightly wounded while working on the same construction site.
The Israel Defense Forces said the terrorists fired at least twenty two projectiles in a major barrage.
Earlier Tuesday, IDF Armored Corps tanks fired shells at terrorist assets in the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket fire targeting Israeli civilian population centers in the morning.
The military has instructed residents along the border with the Hamas-ruled enclave to remain close to shelter, in anticipation of a possible escalation in violence.
Palestinian terrorists fired four projectiles towards the Jewish state early Tuesday after senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Khader Adnan died in prison following an eighty seven day hunger strike.
Reuters cited Israeli prison authorities who said Adnan, 45, “refused to undergo medical tests and receive medical treatment” and “was found unconscious in his cell” at Nitzan Prison in Ramle.
Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
“The occupation [Israel] will pay the price for [Adnan’s] death,” which “will be a lesson for generations,” said PIJ in a statement. “We will not leave this path as long as Palestine remains under occupation.”
Hamas, which rules Gaza, described Adnan’s death as a “coldblooded execution by the Israeli security services,” and warned that “the Palestinian people will not let this crime pass by in silence.
“The path of revolution and resistance will escalate,” said the terror organization.
Adnan has long been accused of being a spokesperson for PIJ.