Israel attacks Hamas positions in Gaza in response to rocket launches
Jerusalem, Dec 26 (efe-epa).- Israel attacked military targets of the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza early Saturday in response to two rockets fired towards it a few hours before, according to official sources.
Fighter jets of the Israeli forces attacked several Hamas positions, including a rocket manufacturing facility, a military outpost and an underground infrastructure, a military spokesperson said in a statement.
Local media and security sources from Hamas said that the bombings injured two civilians – including a child aged under six – and caused damages to the Al Durra pediatric hospital in northeastern Gaza.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem said that the airstrikes terrorized civilians, and shards hit a children’s hospital and rehabilitation center for disabled people.
Israel’s retaliatory attack came hours after the launch of two shells from the Gaza Strip that sounded alarms in neighboring Israeli communities.
The rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, without causing injury or property damage.
No Palestinian group claimed the attack, which marked the first incident of aggression recorded in the area following a month of relative calm.
The militias in Gaza – under Israeli blockade since 2007 – have intermittently launched projectiles against Israel for years, actions that have often led to larger military escalations in recent years.
The Israeli authorities hold Hamas – the de facto ruler in Gaza – responsible for any aggression from within it, to which its armed forces often respond with bombings against positions of the Islamist group. EFE-EPA
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