Gaza: Israeli airstrikes on an underground Hamas military complex

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society says one person was killed in a pre-dawn raid by the Israeli army in Nablus in the northern West Bank , the scene of near-constant violence for a year.

The Israeli army did not comment on the strike.

But in Gaza, it said it struck “an underground complex containing raw materials used for the manufacture of rockets belonging to the terrorist organization Hamas”.

The strikes were carried out “in response to the launch on Saturday rockets from Gaza into Israel,” the army added in a statement.

After the Israeli strikes, sirens sounded in communities near the Gaza border, the army said. No casualties were reported in Gaza or Israel from this latest round of missile strikes.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is nonetheless experiencing a dramatic escalation in violence.

Since the start of the year, the conflict has claimed the lives of 47 Palestinian adults and children, activists and civilians alike, after the latest death in Nablus.

Nine Israeli civilians, including three children, and one Ukrainian civilian were killed in the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.

In a move likely to heighten tensions, Israel's security cabinet announced late Saturday that it would legalize nine Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in response to a series of Palestinian attacks in East Jerusalem, including one that left three people dead on Friday.

New round of construction

According to a security cabinet statement, many of the newly licensed communities had existed for years, and others for decades, but had not previously been recognized as legitimate by the Israeli government.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967. More than 475,000 Israelis reside in settlements in the West Bank, where 2.8 million Palestinians live.

Most are in settlements that 'Israel has authorized unilaterally, but some live in communities that have not received government authorization.

The security cabinet also said it intended to announce a new round of housing construction for settlers in the West Bank, a move likely to draw widespread international condemnation.

Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned against the expansion of settlements during a trip to the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government also announced a strengthening of the security presence in the eastern part of Jerusalem annexed by Israel, the scene of two recent deadly attacks targeting of the civilians.