Israel has begun sending troop reinforcements to its border with the Gaza Strip amid intensifying rocket barrages, defense officials said Thursday.
The move comes after a rocket launched from Gaza slammed into two houses in southern Israel, the military said, causing no injuries but sparking Israeli reprisals and adding to the mounting tensions surrounding the suspected revenge killing of an Arab teen in Jerusalem.
The increase in troops could be in preparation for a wider operation or meant as a defensive action. The defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
Israeli media showed footage of a large hole in one of the houses in the southern border town of Sderot, causing heavy damage to the structure and a nearby road and knocking out electricity throughout the town. No one was wounded in that strike.
In response, the Israeli Air Force attacked 15 terror sites in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Police are meanwhile investigating the disappearance of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, whose family says he was abducted Wednesday shortly before a charred body was found in a Jerusalem forest. The family accused extremist Jews of killing him in revenge for the deaths of three Israeli teens, who went missing more than two weeks before their bodies were found in a field in the West Bank.
The suspected killing ignited clashes in east Jerusalem between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli forces, who responded with stun grenades and rubber-coated billers. The rioters set tires ablaze and torched three light-rail train shelters.
East Jerusalem was quiet Thursday morning but police said units were still patrolling the area. An Associated Press cameraman filmed Hebrew graffiti reading "death to Israel" and "death to Jews." Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the graffiti was likely sprayed since Abu Khdeir's disappearance and that police were looking into it.
Police were still working to identify the body on Thursday, as well as pinpoint the motives behind the killing.
"The investigation is continuing in order to determine whether this was criminal or nationalistic," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
The incident elicited international condemnation and prompted calls for calm from Israeli leaders. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded a swift probe of the "reprehensible murder." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said it was clear extremist Jewish settlers were responsible for the death and called on Israel to bring the killers to justice.
Israel says the militant Hamas, which rules Gaza, abducted and killed the Israeli teens, which led to the largest ground operation in the West Bank in nearly a decade, with Israel arresting hundreds of Hamas operatives as part of a broad manhunt. The discovery of the bodies following days of intense media coverage led to an outpouring of national grief. As the funerals were being held on Tuesday, hundreds of right-wing Israeli youths marched through Jerusalem, screaming for revenge.
Rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes have intensified in recent weeks.
Click here to read more from the Jerusalem Post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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