Israel bombs Gaza targets after rocket attack

Army says weapons warehouse, ‘terror installation’ hit in retaliatory airstrike; Kerem Shalom crossing closed to commercial traffic

By ToI Staff 28 April 2013, 5:53 am 7

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Israeli aircraft early Sunday morning attacked targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket attack on the Sdot Negev region Saturday night.

There were no initial Palestinian reports of casualties.

The IAF targeted a “terror installation” and a weapons warehouse in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF spokesperson’s office said, noting that the targets had been hit.

As a result of the rocket fire, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the Gaza Strip to commercial traffic. The Erez Crossing, on the northern border of Gaza, will be open to humanitarian foot traffic only.

There were no reports of injuries or damage in the rocket attack Saturday night that disrupted celebrations in honor of the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer.

Children who were outside celebrating the holiday with bonfires were instructed by police to return to their homes.

Recent weeks have seen a surge in rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, after several months of relative quiet along the border in the wake of Israel’s November 2012 bombing campaign against Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza.