Fresh unrest hits Gaza

An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed a pregnant woman and her toddler and Hamas warned the Jewish state against "foolishness" yesterday as Palestinian unrest spun further toward a full-scale uprising.

After days of unrest elsewhere, Gaza has been drawn into the violence since Friday, with clashes along the border leaving nine Palestinians dead, including teenagers, from Israeli fire.

Overnight, Israel said it targeted "two Hamas weapon manufacturing facilities" after Gaza militants fired two rockets and following attempts by Palestinians to violently cross the border.

One of the rockets had hit an open field in southern Israel and the other was intercepted.

Israel's retaliatory air strikes demolished a house in the northern area of Zeitun, killing Nur Hassan, 30, and her two-year-old daughter Rahaf, Gaza medics said, and trapping three others under the ruins.

Meanwhile, Israel's government is facing serious questions over its use of force in the latest outbreak of violence with protesters after a number of videos appeared online showing soldiers shooting at Palestinians.

Amnesty International yesterday told Al Jazeera that some of the recorded incidents amounted to "extrajudicial killings", while Human rights Watch was "strongly concerned" by Israel's "indiscriminate and even deliberate" use of fire on demonstrators.

"These are extrajudicial killings against unarmed civilians," Mariam Farah, the spokesperson for Amnesty International in Israel, said.

On Friday, a video emerged showing a number of Israeli soldiers surrounding a young Palestinian woman allegedly holding a knife before they shot her with live bullets multiple times. Israa Ayed, 29, was critically injured.

"There is no proof whatsoever that Israa was holding a knife. The same goes for Alloun. They did not appear to have posed enough threat to the soldiers to use deliberate lethal force [on them]," Amnesty's Farah told Al Jazeera.

Since the beginning of the latest wave of violence in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, 23 Palestinians were killed and 1,991 injured by Israeli security forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

On the Israeli side, four Israelis were stabbed to death by Palestinians, while 63 others were injured.

Human Rights Watch told Al Jazeera the sheer number of cases of injuries among the Palestinians "raises concerns that Israeli forces are violating international law".

The US-based organisation said one of its staff members was injured by Israeli fire on Tuesday while she was observing a demonstration near a checkpoint outside Ramallah.

Border clashes that broke out Friday came as Hamas's chief in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, called the overall violence an intifada and urged further unrest.

In response to the air strike, a Hamas spokesman said "this shows the occupation's desire to escalate."

"We warn the occupation against continuing this foolishness," said Sami Abu Zuhri.

Also yesterday morning, Israeli security forces said they foiled an attack when an explosion seriously wounded a Palestinian woman and lightly injured an Israeli policeman.

Explosives had not been used in the week of violence that has led to an Israeli crackdown, with a wave of stabbings sparking fear among Israelis.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and president Mahmud Abbas have sought to avoid an escalation, frustrated Palestinian youths have defied efforts to restore calm.

The office of French President Francois Hollande said yesterday that "everything must be done to... end this cycle (of violence) which has already caused too many victims".

US Secretary of State John Kerry shared his "deep concern" Saturday over the spiraling violence during telephone calls with Netanyahu and Abbas.

Both Abbas and Netanyahu have put the blame for the situation on the other.

Rioting has seen Palestinians throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli forces, who have responded with live fire, rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades.

Fourteen stabbing attacks have targeted Jews since October 3, when a Palestinian murdered two Israelis in the Old City.

One revenge stabbing has occurred, with a 17-year-old Jew in the southern Israeli city of Dimona wounding two Palestinians and two Arab Israelis on Friday.