Israel targets Hamas sites in Gaza following rocket fire - The Jerusalem Post

Several Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip were struck by Israel Air Force jets on Saturday night after three rockets were fired from the Hamas control enclave toward southern Israel.According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, IAF jets and helicopters struck several terror targets, including a Hamas terrorist camp, including its warehouses, offices and security posts. In addition, a military position of the naval force of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip was struck and destroyed.The airstrikes were in response to rocket fire launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory earlier in the night.“Hamas is responsible for what is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip, and it will bear the consequences for actions against Israeli citizens,” the military said in a statement.Meanwhile, Hamas called the overnight strikes as a “dangerous step” and that Israel “will bear the consequences of its actions.”"Israel's insistence to continue the escalation in Gaza by bombing the resistance is a dangerous step that cannot be taken lightly,” the ruling group said in a statement. “Israel must bear the consequences.”Following the rocket fire, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday that Israel needs to change the equation with the country’s enemies.According to the Israeli military, all of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.Incoming rocket sirens were activated at around 9 p.m. in Sderot and surrounding communities bordering the northern part of the blockaded coastal enclave.Locals reported hearing blasts, and video shared on social media showed at least two interceptions. The third projectile is believed to have fallen in open territory, causing no damage.Magen David Adom spokesman Zaki Heller reported that paramedics and EMTs treated a 40-year-old woman and her daughter, 10, and a 27-year-old male. All were lightly injured.Another two people were treated by MDA for stress symptoms.According to KAN Radio, IAF aircraft were scrambled to the northern Strip three times on Saturday following reports of suspicious activity near the border, but returned to base after checking that there had been no infiltration into Israel.Also on Saturday, the IDF said troops arrested two unarmed Gazans who crossed the border fence in southern Israel. They were arrested and taken in for questioning.The rockets come a day after Hamas resumed the “March of Return” protests after a three-week break following Operation Black Belt between the IDF and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which saw more than 400 rockets fired toward southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv.On Friday, an estimated 4,000 Gazans took part in the protests, with hundreds rioting and throwing explosive devices and rocks at IDF troops deployed at the fence, who responded with riot dispersal means. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said that 27 Palestinians were injured.Also on Friday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi met with the mayors of communities bordering the Gaza Strip and said that following the last round of violence, in which Hamas did not fire one rocket, there is a chance to negotiate a long-term ceasefire with the terrorist organization.“The IDF’s actions in ‘Black Belt’ succeeded due to the resilience of residents of the Gaza periphery and your leadership, and it allows us a special opportunity to create a different reality in the region,” Kochavi said.Kochavi was joined by the head of the Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, and the Gaza division commander Brig.-Gen. Eliezer Toledano.

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https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Three-rockets-fired-from-Gaza-to-Israel-two-intercepted-by-Iron-Dome-610208

2019-12-08 11:54:00Z
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