The confirmation comes nearly 30 minutes after air raid sirens were first heard in southern Israel. The Times of Israel reported that the sirens were initiated in Nir Yitzhak and Sufa, two communities located near the Gaza Strip.
A spokesperson for the Eshkol Regional Council told the Jerusalem Post that the rocket landed in an open area.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 12, 2019
According to the Times, the strike comes after Hamas, the Palestinian party that governs the Gaza Strip, threatened to avenge the death of Mahmoud Ahmad Sabri al-Adham, one of its members who was killed Thursday by IDF soldiers. The deadly incident was later characterized by the IDF as a "misunderstanding" after it was determined that al-Adham was wrongly identified by an IDF service member as an armed terrorist.
— Joe Truzman (@Jtruzmah) July 12, 2019
In response to the killing, Hamas indicated that it had no intention to let al-Adham's death go "unpunished." In a statement on the matter, it added that Israel "would bear the consequences of this criminal act," the Times reported.
