JERUSALEM/GAZA - Israeli airstrikes killed at least 44 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to Gaza's Civil Defense Agency, following a rare rocket barrage fired from the enclave by Hamas militants.
Separately, Palestinian authorities reported that a 14-year-old Palestinian-American boy was fatally shot by Israeli forces during clashes in the occupied West Bank.
The violence escalated after Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, launched rockets into southern Israel earlier Sunday, which the group described as retaliation for Israeli "massacres" against Palestinian civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the rocket fire as "unacceptable" and vowed a "forceful response".
READ MORE: 31 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on school-turned shelter in Gaza City
The Israeli military stated that it intercepted most of the projectiles, though one rocket struck the city of Ashkelon, lightly wounding three people. In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted airstrikes targeting suspected rocket launch sites in central Gaza, including Deir al-Balah. Witnesses reported sustained explosions overnight as strikes rocked the area.
Israel resumed large-scale air and ground operations in Gaza on March 18. Gaza's health authorities said earlier on Sunday that these renewed offensives have killed at least 1,335 Palestinians and injured 3,297 others.
ALSO READ: Egypt rejects Israeli attempts to divide Palestinian territories
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said a 14-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Mohammad Rabea, was fatally shot on Sunday during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Turmus Ayya. The IDF claimed troops engaged "terrorists" throwing stones at civilians, resulting in one death and two injuries. Palestinian officials, however, denounced the shooting as unprovoked, with Turmus Ayya's mayor accusing an Israeli settler of instigating the violence.
ALSO READ: UN official: Gaza has become ‘death trap’
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, has experienced intensified military raids since January, which Israel describes as counterterrorism operations. Palestinian leaders and residents accuse Israeli forces and settlers of escalating violence, exacerbating instability in the territory.
