IAF strikes Gaza in response to rocket fire
After rocket explodes in southern Israel, rocket launchers targeted in north of strip
Israeli jets bombed targets in the northern Gaza Strip Thursday night, hours after a rocket launched from Gaza landed in the Negev Regional Council.
There were no immediate reports of injuries. The IDF confirmed it struck the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fire earlier in the evening, which caused no injuries or damage.
“In response to rocket fire towards Israel, an IAF aircraft targeted a terror infrastructure site in the central Gaza Strip and three concealed rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement. Twitter users in the Gaza Strip reported at least four explosions.
The Israeli warplanes have targeted more than 4 places in less than one hour. #Gaza #gazzeatesaltında
— TamamAbusalama (@TamamAbusalama) January 2, 2014
The exchange of fire was the latest in a series of recent security incidents along the volatile Israeli-Gaza border.
The missile came several hours after a Palestinian teen in Gaza who attempted to damage the border fence was shot and injured by IDF soldiers operating nearby, the Israeli military said.
It was not clear if there was a connection between the rocket fire and the shooting.
A group of suspects had approached a buffer zone near the fence from the Gaza side and were attempting to damage it, an IDF spokesperson told AFP, adding that after “numerous” warnings to desist, “soldiers then resorted to aiming fire at the individuals’ lower extremities,” and reported “one hit.”
A Hamas official later confirmed that a 16-year old male was wounded in the leg during the incident and had been hospitalized in moderate condition.
On Tuesday, an IDF patrol operating along the Gaza border came under fire from an unidentified source in the Hamas-controlled territory Tuesday night. There were no injuries or damage.
The incidents come amid a week of renewed violence along the border. A rocket launched from Gaza exploded Monday evening in the western Negev, causing no injuries or damage.
Last week, the Israeli Air Force struck targets in Gaza after several rockets hit Israeli territory, landing in open areas.
Last Tuesday, a Defense Ministry civilian worker was killed by sniper fire from the Gaza Strip, prompting retaliatory attacks by the IAF that, Palestinian media reported, killed a Palestinian toddler and her father.
