US News

Israel begins sending troops to Gaza border: officials

The Israeli military bulked up forces near the Gaza Strip border on Thursday in response to a startling string of rocket attacks — while tensions remained high in Jerusalem over the possible “revenge” kidnapping and killing of an Arab teenager.

The “defensive” forces were deployed after Palestinian militants in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip fired an estimated 30 rockets aimed at Israel’s southern neighborhoods in 24 hours, The Washington Post reported.

“Everything we are doing is to de-escalate the situation but on the other hand to be prepared if they don’t de-escalate,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, according to Reuters.

The Israeli Air Force countered the barrage of rockets with 15 overnight airstrikes targeted at terrorist sites, injuring 10, The Associated Press reported.

Israeli security forces remained on edge in East Jerusalem, as dozens of Arab youths took to the streets in protest of the murder of 17-year-old Muhammed Hussein Abu Khdeir, whose burned body was found in a forest west of the capital city, the AP said.

Palestinian officials and residents believe the murder was an act of retaliation committed by Jewish settlers for the recent killing of three Jewish Israeli teenagers walking home from school in the West Bank.