IDF says it struck Hamas sites in response to missile fire from Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that its fighter jets struck multiple Palestinian targets after claiming the militant group Hamas fired several rockets into Israel.

The IDF said it intercepted five of the six rockets fired from Gaza, with one falling into an open area, before it retaliated with its own fighter jets.

“In response to the rockets fired from Gaza, IAF fighter jets struck both a weapons manufacturing site and military compound belonging to the Hamas Terrorist Organization, located in central and northern Gaza,” the IDF continued.

“The compound is located adjacent to a mosque, medical clinic, hotel, police station and school. This serves as further evidence as to how the Hamas Terrorist Organization exploits the civilian population of Gaza by deliberately placing its weaponry in the center of civilian areas.”

The exchange appears to be an escalation after IDF forces killed 10 Palestinians in a West Bank raid on Wednesday in the city of Nablus. Israel said the raid, which left more than 100 people injured, was an attempt to arrest suspected Palestinian gunmen accused of rising violence in the region.

The Israeli raid on Wednesday brought condemnations from the United Nations and Middle East countries Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan.

“Deadly cycles of violence keep accelerating,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. “Tensions are sky high. And the peace process remains stalled. The situation in Jerusalem/Al-Quds is becoming more fragile amidst provocations and acts of violence in and around the holy sites. It radiates instability across the region and beyond.”

Source: upi