Heavy explosions rocked the Gaza Strip on early Sunday morning, indicating that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have conducted airstrikes in the area, local media reported.
Social media accounts speculated that one of the targets of the air raid was an alleged military facility of the Palestinian Hamas group in central Gaza. The strike was followed by a second and a third aimed at a different target, presumably the 13th Battalion of the Qassam Brigade, according to reports.
A short time after the airstrikes, Hamas anti-aircraft artillery fire was reported to be currently active in northern Gaza, while there have been reports of another UAV strike at the military facility.
Several more heavy blasts were reported later across the Gaza Strip.
Footage posted by Palestinian media reportedly shows an Israeli F-16 striking a target in central Gaza.
The IDF has confirmed an air operation in Gaza, after strikes have continued for over an hour, claiming it targeted Hamas positions in the area.
According to Israeli media, the IDF began targeting sites in the northern and central Gaza Strip early Sunday morning after rockets were reportedly fired into southern Israel on Saturday.
No injuries from the Israeli side were reported.
According to reports, Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for the Hamas military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, issued a video statement shortly before red alert sirens were heard over southern Israel, praising the six Palestinian fugitives who recently escaped an Israeli prison.
After a missile was fired into Israel on Friday night in response to the detention of two of the escaped Gilboa Prison fugitives, a red alert was issued for the second time in two days. Later that night, two more people were apprehended by Israeli authorities.