Earlier on Monday, Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Israel without wounding anyone hours after three Palestinians were killed by tank fire near the tense border of the Hamas-ruled territory.

The rocket landed in an empty field near Sderot, no one was wounded in the attack. Shortly after the attack, Israeli army warned that it will escalate its military operations against Hamas movement.

The recent violence comes as the second round of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians which restarted in Washington this month is to take place on Tuesday in Egypt. Member of Israeli Knesset, Shaul Mofaz on Monday told Israel Radio that “terrorist activities will increase as Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations move forward, but that should not stop Israel from taking part in the peace process.”

Meanwhile in Ramallah, the Israeli Lands Administration (ILA) inspectors backed by large police forces early on Monday demolished structures that had been rebuilt in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al-Araqib for the fourth time in weeks.

Volunteers from the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and several political activists had helped the villagers of Al-Araqib rebuild their homes every time the Israeli authorities demolish them. The activists said that they would continue to rebuild structures in the village located in the southern Negev Desert.

The village was demolished for the fourth time at the beginning of Ramadan, but as in previous instances, it was immediately rebuild.

The Al-Araqib’s village committee said in a press statement that the police acted violently during the clashes that erupted in the area.

“All attempts to uproot the residents of the village will ultimately fail,” the committee said. “The attempt to uproot Bedouin citizens from their communities constitutes a serious insult to all Bedouin.” It added that the demolitions deepen the distrust between the Israeli government and the Bedouin community.

The Arab Member of Israeli Knesset Talab El-Sana said “the demolition operations lead to unrest and disobedience in the Arab sector in general, and the Negev in particular. We are victims of the State of Israel.”

El-Sana of the United Arab List party, vowed the demolished village would be reconstructed, adding that “the only solution is recognition, not displacement; issuing building permits, not demolition.”

For her part, the Bedouin rights activist Haya Nouh noted the demolition drive had become routine.  “Dozens of police officers arrived followed by bulldozers. They razed all the houses. They ruined everything we built and left nothing. It’s a big disgrace.”