BICOM

The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck two strategic sites in the Gaza Strip overnight after two rockets were fired from the Hamas-controlled area into southern Israel yesterday evening.

Last night, a rocket from Gaza exploded in an open area of the Hof Ashkelon region, although no injuries or damage were reported. Rocket warning sirens were sounded in the same area earlier yesterday evening when another rocket was fired, although it is not yet known where it landed.

In response, the IAF hit two strategic targets in the Gaza Strip. One was a hidden rocket-launching site in the northern Gaza Strip and the other, according to Palestinian sources, was a training camp of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip. Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since violently overthrowing the Fatah faction in 2007.

An Israeli army statement said that, “The IDF sees any firing on Israel’s territory as severe …  and will continue to act with force against any group that seeks to use terror against the State of Israel.” It continued, saying, “The attack occurred after repeated projectile attacks, which Hamas did not stop in recent days.”

During January there was a sharp increase in rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel, 33 in total. They included a salvo of five rockets aimed at Ashkelon, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system and two rockets which were fired shortly after the conclusion of Ariel Sharon’s funeral. Although many of the recent attacks are thought to have been carried out by independent Islamist terror groups, Israel holds Hamas responsible for the violence.

On Sunday, an Israeli air strike targeted Abdallah Kharti, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, affiliated with a global jihadi network, who was responsible for a number of rocket attacks, including one on the resort city of Eilat. Kharti was seriously injured in the strike.