(Gaza) Rockets were launched on Tuesday from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, while Israeli tanks fired on the enclave, after the death of a senior figure in the Palestinian Islamist movement Islamic Jihad who has been on hunger strike for over 80 days in an Israeli prison.

Khader Adnane, 45, had been imprisoned many times by Israel and had already gone on several hunger strikes, becoming a symbol for Palestinians.

The Israeli prison administration announced in a press release the death of a prisoner affiliated with Islamic Jihad, “ found unconscious in his cell ” and then hospitalized.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel recently visited him and called for his “immediate” hospitalization, saying his life was in danger.

“ Khader Adnane has chosen the hunger strike as a last resort, a non-violent way to protest against the oppression to which he and his people are subjected”, reacted the organization on Tuesday.

During a press conference at their home in Arraba, in the northern occupied West Bank, his wife Randa Moussa declared that his death was a “pride”.

On Friday, she told AFP that his conditions of detention were “ very difficult ” and that Israel had refused to transfer him to a civilian hospital.

“We don’t want a drop of blood to be shed, we don’t want anyone to respond to the martyrdom of Sheikh (Adnane), we don’t want anyone to fire rockets and hit Gaza from the suite ”, also claimed the wife of the deceased on Tuesday.

But as early as dawn, three rockets and a mortar shell were fired from Gaza into Israel, falling in wasteland or near the border fence, the Israeli military said.

Exchanges of fire then took place in the afternoon: Israeli tanks fired towards the Gaza Strip, the army said, while new salvoes of rockets were launched towards Israel, according to journalists. from AFP.

These new shots were claimed, in a joint statement, by the armed groups in the Gaza Strip, who presented them as “ a first response ” to the death of Khader Adnane.

After the death was announced, Islamic Jihad, an organization considered “terrorist” by Israel, the United States and the European Union, said that Israel “would pay the price for this crime”.

In August 2022, three days of clashes between Israel and Islamic Jihad left 49 Palestinians dead, including 12 members of Islamic Jihad according to the movement, and at least 19 children according to the UN. About 200 rockets were fired by Islamic Jihad from Gaza into Israel, injuring three.

On Tuesday morning, Palestinian traders also closed their shops in the occupied West Bank, responding to a call for a general strike, AFP journalists noted.

In the north of this territory, an Israeli was injured by shards of glass and two vehicles were damaged by gunfire, according to the Israeli army, according to the search for suspects.

Khader Adnane had started his hunger strike from the start of his incarceration on February 5, the prison administration said, saying that he “ refused to undergo medical examinations and receive treatment ”.

He had been charged for his involvement in Islamic Jihad and for speeches in support of a hostile organization, an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The military appeals court had rejected his request for release, according to this source.

While other inmates on hunger strike have succumbed to force-feeding, he is the first to die directly from such an action, Palestinian Prisoners Club president Qaddoura Fares told AFP.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh accused Israel of “murdering” Adnane by rejecting his calls to release him, neglecting him medically and keeping him in his cell despite the seriousness of his state of health.