BICOM

A missile was fired into Israel from Gaza last night. The Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesman confirmed that the missile was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

In response, the Israeli army attacked a Hamas target in Gaza. The IDF said: “IDF fighter jets struck an underground terrorist facility in a Hamas military compound in the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF will continue to operate against the attempts to attack Israeli civilians and views Hamas as responsible for the turn of events in and out of the Gaza Strip.”

A spokesperson for the Eshkol Regional Council said the explosion heard overnight was the sound of the Iron Dome intercepting the incoming missile and added that no missile landed in any of the communities and that no damage had been caused.

According to Palestinian sources, Israeli planes were spotted over the southern Gaza Strip. Daud Shihab, a senior Islamic Jihad official, told Palestinian media that his organisation would insist: “On the implementation of the truce understandings despite the obstacles that have been mounted by Israel.”

The missile attack comes after a six-month ceasefire had reportedly been agreed between Israel and Hamas in May, although this was denied at the time by both sides. As part of the reported agreement, Israel agreed to extend the fishing zone to 15 miles but continuing incendiary balloons from Gaza has led Israel to intermittently reduce the size of the fishing zone to between six and 15 miles. On Tuesday, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories imposed a full naval blockade on the Gaza Strip until further notice due to incendiary balloons yesterday which caused eight fires and destroyed 12 acres of land.

A drone from Lebanon crossed into Israeli airspace yesterday before turning back across the border. The IDF spokesperson said the drone was observing Israeli troop movements. The incident occurred at around midday, when the unmanned aerial vehicle crossed over the western part of the border and over the town of Shlomi in the western Galilee. The IDF said the incident was being investigated using Israeli surveillance information. Israeli jets were scrambled to the area to follow the drone’s flight path, although it was not shot down.