After several rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip in the direction of Israel, the Israeli military responded with airstrikes early Friday morning.
The target was an underground facility used by the Islamist Hamas to manufacture rockets in the center of the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media, citing the military. There were initially no reports of injuries.
According to the Israeli military, rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on Thursday for the first time in almost three months. The Iron Dome defense system was activated and a missile was intercepted, it said. Three more have already exploded within the coastal strip. Sirens could be heard in several cities in southern Israel.
The attack came two days after Israel’s parliamentary elections, in which right-wing opposition leader and ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged victorious.
On Thursday, a leading member of the Al-Quds Brigades – the military wing of Islamic Jihad – was killed during an operation by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian organization is particularly active in the Gaza Strip. According to local reports from the Gaza Strip, she is said to be responsible for the rocket attacks on the border area.
The Israeli military launched a large-scale military operation against Islamic Jihad in early August. The militant Palestinians then fired more than 1,000 rockets at Israeli towns, according to the military. A ceasefire was agreed after three days of fighting.