Israeli jets hit targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday, following rocket attacks on southern Israel that have been attributed to Hamas.
Rockets were fired into Israel late on Sunday night, prompting an attack on the Gaza Strip several hours later by Israeli F-16 jets. Israeli-Palestinian tensions have escalated in recent days, with Palestinian knife attacks against Israeli soldiers.
"Yesterday, October 4, a rocket shot from Gaza exploded in southern Israel. In response to the attack, the Israeli air force struck Hamas terrorist infrastructure sites in the northern Gaza Strip," the Israeli military press service said.
The jets struck sites allegedly belonging to Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades. According to Haaretz, the facility was severely damaged but no injuries were reported. According to the Israeli military, Palestinian groups have launched 16 rockets into Israel since the last ceasefire began in August 2014.
BREAKING: IDF jets strike Gaza following rocket fire into Israel – reports http://t.co/9rU1QXsU9g pic.twitter.com/sHQyvONY0J
— RT (@RT_com) October 5, 2015
During the 2014 Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel destroyed clandestine tunnels built by Hamas. The group's tunnel-building activities have also been used in Syria, where Hamas is allied with Islamist forces fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's government and assisted in underground tunnel construction, similar to that now being targeted by the Russian Aerospace Forces in airstrikes.
The country's Intelligence Minister Israel Katz previously said that new military operations would begin after four people were killed in attacks in Jerusalem. The knife attacks came after the Israeli government introduced a mandatory minimum sentence for stone throwers.
