Palestinian factions in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets into southern Israel after midnight Thursday, less than an hour after the Israeli army ended an air attack on the Hamas-controlled enclave in response to an earlier rocket attack.
The Israeli military said the Iron Dome missile defense system successfully intercepted all four rockets fired from Gaza shortly after 2:00.
The red alert sirens were followed by additional red sirens in border towns with Gaza, but the IDF later said the firing was consistent with previous Palestinian media reports of gunmen in the Strip shooting at Israeli planes.
Less than an hour ago, the Israeli army ended its airstrikes in Gaza in response to an earlier missile fired on Wednesday evening, which landed near a house in the southern city of Sderot and was the second missile attack in nearly 48 hours.
The army said that its planes targeted a military site in central Gaza, as well as opening what it called a terrorist tunnel that led to an underground site used to produce rocket engines. The Ynet news site reported that the site was used by fighters belonging to the armed wing of Hamas. The Israeli military said its bombing constituted a major blow to the rocket production process in Gaza.
“The Hamas terrorist organization is responsible for what is happening in the Gaza Strip,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, sticking to its position that it has long ruled Gaza, and is responsible for any rockets fired from the Strip, regardless. whether its fighters were behind the launches or not.
Watch this video closely.
This is the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system that intercepts the incoming missiles just fired by terrorists in Gaza at the homes of innocent Israeli families who were hoping to sleep peacefully tonight.
All missiles were successfully intercepted. pic.twitter.com/03mjTlQMDv
– Kerenhajioff (@kerenhajioff) April 20 2022
Wednesday night’s rocket attack was the second since Monday after nearly four months of calm on the Gaza border. It came at the end of a tense day in Jerusalem, where police prevented Israeli nationals from walking through Damascus Gate in the Old City, a popular gathering point for Palestinians. Hamas, the movement that rules the Gaza Strip, had threatened to attack if the march continued.
“The bombing of Gaza will increase our people’s determination and resistance to continue the struggle and escalate support and aid to our people in Jerusalem,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said after the Israeli army’s counter-strike on Thursday.
The rocket attack on Wednesday evening damaged a car and a wall near a house in Sderot. It seems that the missile fell outside the city, but a large fragment ricocheted and hit near the house. According to Hebrew media reports, hundreds of balls loaded into the missile were found at the scene.
Heavy bombing in the middle of the Gaza Strip #Gaza_resist #Gaza_under_bomb pic.twitter.com/x6Yy1vbtVi
– Hasan Asleh | Hassan (hassaneslayeh) April 20 2022
None of the Gaza-based Palestinian factions announced the rocket fire on Wednesday and Monday, although several media reports have blamed Monday’s attack on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. According to public broadcaster Kan, the Israeli security establishment believes that the previous rocket was launched by extremists within Islamic Jihad who were acting alone and that Hamas is unable to suppress these rogue elements even when it wants to.
Following Monday’s rocket, the Israeli military said it struck a number of targets, including a site used by Hamas to manufacture weapons in the Gaza Strip.
In the past, Israel has responded with airstrikes on Hamas positions regardless of the identity of the group that launched the attack. In rare cases, it directed its response to Islamic Jihad, if the movement claimed responsibility.
Documenting the raids on the resistance site in the central Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/cwHk2VQiNF
Shehab Agency April 20 2022
Recent days have witnessed violent clashes between Palestinian rioters and the police at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which resulted in the injury of dozens of Palestinians and a number of police officers.
Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza have repeatedly referred to the holy site at the epicenter of tension as a red line. Police measures to quell riots there last year were among the causes of the 11-day war in Gaza last May.
Aaron Boxerman contributed to this report
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