Israeli security forces strike Hamas targets after Gaza rocket fire

The Israeli military struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday, hours after Palestinian terrorists in the coastal enclave fired a rocket at southern Israel.

An Israel Defense Forces statement said fighter jets and other aircraft hit a number of sites linked to Hamas, the Islamist terror organization that rules Gaza. The targets included an armaments production facility, a tunnel for smuggling weaponry and a Hamas military post, according to the IDF.

“The attack was carried out as a response to the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory earlier this evening,” the statement said.

The military did not specifically blame Hamas for Thursday evening’s rocket fire, but Israel has stressed it holds the terror group responsible for all violence emanating from Gaza.

The rocket, which was fired as Israel’s Independence Day came to an end, struck a field northeast of Gaza, causing neither injury nor damage.

The rocket attack triggered sirens in the town of Sderot and the nearby communities of Nir Am and Ibim.

The attack came amid a general lull in violence from the Gaza Strip in recent months, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Last month, a rocket was fired toward Beersheba as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a campaign stop in the southern city ahead of the March 23 elections.

Source: TOI