Air force strikes Gaza after rocket hits South
Sirens wail at 2 a.m. as missile hits open area near Ashkelon; no injuries or damage confirmed; IDF bombs target in response
Rocket alert sirens rang out early Thursday morning in towns near the Gaza Strip after a missile was fired from the Palestinian territory. The air force struck the Gaza Strip hours later in response.
One rocket fired from the coastal enclave struck an open area near the southern city of Ashkelon after Code Red alerts went off shortly after 2 a.m.
No injuries or damage were inflicted, the IDF said, and soldiers were scouring the area for remains of the projectile.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the rocket fire.
Initial report: Sirens sounded in Lachish region, as a rocket was launched at S. Israel from Gaza. No injuries reported. IDF searching area.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 15, 2015
Hours later, just after sunup, the Israeli Air Force struck a target near the El Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported, according to Hamas’s Al-Aqsa Radio.
The rocket struck near Ashkelon, no injuries were reported. In response #IDF targeted #Gaza terror infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/kBPbg2cqck
— LTC (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) July 16, 2015
The IDF said it wouldn’t tolerate any attempts to harm Israeli citizens and that it holds Hamas responsible.
Earlier this week, rocket sirens sounded across northern Israel in what turned out to be a false alarm. Sunday’s incident was the latest in a string of false alarms in recent weeks in which sirens sounded in southern Israel and the Golan Heights.
The rocket was the latest to hit southern Israel. Earlier this month, an Islamic State-affiliated group fired three rockets into southern Israel from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, causing no injuries or damage.
