Jerusalem, 2 January, 2022 (TPS) — The Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed several Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday night after the terror organization fired two rockets at the Tel Aviv area earlier in the day.
The Hamas launched two long-range at the Tel Aviv area on Saturday morning. The rockets landed in the sea causing no injuries or damage. As per protocol, no sirens were sounded and no interception took place as the rockets landed off the coast of central Israel.
Hamas reportedly conveyed messages to Israel that the double launch was “a mistake.”
In response, the IAF struck Hamas sites in Gaza, including a rocket manufacturing site, and IDF tanks hit “military posts used for terrorist activity.”
“The Hamas terrorist organization is responsible for what is happening in the Gaza Strip and bears the consequences of terrorist acts from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF stated.
During the attack, Hamas fired two anti-aircraft rockets at IAF helicopters operating in the Strip. the IDF confirmed the reports.
The IDF announced before the strike that it would hit Hamas in Gaza, eliciting criticism from security pundits who said the government was displaying insecurity and stress in the face of Hamas’ aggression. The pundits also criticized the minor scope of the strikes, which they said were perfunctorily and mostly conveyed the message that Israel was not interested in a further escalation.
The weekend’s incidents occurred a few days after a shooting attack on the Gaza Strip border on Wednesday in which an Israeli worker was lightly wounded in the leg by shrapnel. IDF tanks attacked five Hamas positions in the northern Gaza Strip in response. Three Gazans were moderately and lightly wounded.
Hamas has recently threatened to escalate its actions against Israel following its frustration over the lack of progress in the Egyptian-mediated negotiations with Israel.
A Hamas spokesman stated Sunday that the Istael strikes are “an aggression that is added to the record of its crimes against our people.”
Hamas “performs its duty to defend our people and liberate our land and sanctities, holding the trigger, holding on to its weapons until liberation, stressing that the enemy and its settlers will only suffer disappointment and defeat, and the fate of our people and their resistance will definitely be elevation and victory, “the spokesman stated.