Israel has struck targets in the Gaza strip in response to an alleged attack from the Palestinian enclave. Israel says it hit two targets, including a Hamas weapons factory in the Gaza strip, in an apparent retaliation for an attack that never happened on the Israeli town of Sderot from the Palestinian enclave.
On Thursday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said one rocket was launched from Gaza the previous night.
“In response, fighter jets attacked an underground facility producing rocket engine components. This attack will cause significant damage to the rocket production process in the Gaza Strip,” the forces said in a statement.
Attempts by the Hamas-controlled enclave to take down the planes have failed, according to an IDF spokesman, but prompted Israel to carry out a second strike, this time targeting “a military compound used by the Hamas terrorist organization.”
During the second raid, the gunshots triggered the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system, with the malfunction currently being investigated, the IDF said.
The Times of Israel, citing a medics’ statement, reported that three people had received treatment for debris-related injuries following a strike from Gaza.
Hamas responded to last night’s events by saying that it would “increase the persistence” of the Palestinians and their commitment “to continue the struggle.”
The fire exchange has apparently marked a further escalation of tensions between Israel and Gaza. In a similar episode on Tuesday, the IDF struck several targets in the Gaza strip, claiming the move was in retaliation for the rocket fired at Israel from the Palestinian enclave – the first one in almost four months.
The incidents follow several days of violent clashes at the Temple Mount complex (as referred to by the Jews) or the Al-Aqsa compound (as referred by the Palestinians), and a series of terrorist attacks in Israel in recent weeks. The compound is in east Jerusalem, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, with the Jewish state responsible for security there.
Temple Mount is considered the holiest site in Judaism, while the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the southern part of the complex is the third holiest site in Islam.
Palestinian resistance sources, however, told Al Mayadeen that they did not launch rockets into the settlements surrounding Gaza, but instead fired anti-aircraft shells and opened fire in the direction of the surrounding settlements, which triggered the sensitive radars of the Iron Dome system.
Several Iron Dome air defense batteries were released, despite no rockets being fired. With a full Iron Dome battery unit costing $50 million and each missile costing $40,000 to $100,000, the Palestinian resistance was able to create a costly waste of the Israeli military’s resources.
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The Israeli airstrikes inside Gaza amounted to 10 missiles, according to Palestinian media, and struck the central area of the besieged enclave.
“Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles bombed a resistance site West of Nuseirat Camp, Gaza,” stated Al Mayadeen‘s Gaza correspondent, who additionally reported that tank fire targeted several locations in the same region.
The Israeli aggression prompted the Palestinian resistance to launch several anti-aircraft shells and surface-to-air missiles to repel the attack, triggering the sirens of the surrounding Israeli settlements.
Israeli media later admitted that the sirens went off despite no rocket being fired from Gaza that night.
This marks the second time that Israel has struck Gaza since Palestinian forces retaliated for the ongoing violent repression of Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
On 18 April, Palestinian resistance factions launched retaliatory missiles into the settlements surrounding Gaza after several warnings were issued to the Israeli authorities that the violations in Al-Aqsa would not go unanswered.
This was followed by an Israeli aerial assault on Gaza in the early hours of 19 April.