Tensions soared around Gaza on October 24 after Israeli air raids killed four Palestinians and Palestinian armed groups fired more than 70 rockets at southern Israel, seriously wounding two people. It was the biggest surge in cross-border violence since June. The latest escalation began on October 23 , shortly after the end of a high-profile visit to Gaza by the emir of Qatar, when militants fired six rockets at southern Israel. Israel immediately carried out twin air strikes over northern Gaza, killing two Palestinians from Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, and injured another seven people, medics said.
Another Israeli raid near the southern city of Rafah early on October 24 killed a third Palestinian, and later in the morning, medics said an armed Palestinian who was seriously wounded in one of the evening strikes had died of his injuries.