Attack carried out in response to rocket fire and firing of incendiary balloons from Gaza.
IDF fighter jets on Tuesday evening attacked a number of additional Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.
The attack targeted a military compound of one of the special units of the Hamas terrorist organization, said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
The statement also noted that “the attack was carried out in response to the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory earlier tonight and to the firing of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory during the day.”
“The IDF takes all terrorist activity against Israeli territory very seriously and is prepared and willing to act as much as necessary against attempts to harm Israeli citizens. The Hamas terrorist organization bears responsibility for what is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip, and will bear the consequences of terrorist acts against Israeli citizens,” said the IDF statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Red Alert siren sounded in Ashkelon. The IDF said that one rocket launch was identified from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.
The rocket attack came amid a spate of incendiary balloon attacks from Gaza. 39 fires were caused by balloons launched from Gaza during the day on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday evening with the heads of the local authorities in the Gaza envelope as incendiary and explosive balloons continue to be launched from the Gaza Strip.
“We have adopted the same response to arson as we have to rockets. We have been working for ten days in a row to bomb the infrastructure of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations. We are also imposing various sanctions in areas that are important to Hamas as well,” Netanyahu assured the leaders.
“Hamas will be making a very big mistake if it continues with this. It is already getting an indication of where this will lead, and it certainly remembers where it has led in the past; and I hope Islamic Jihad also remembers where it led,” added Netanyahu.
Israeli firefighters have been battling fires in southern Israel for days, with 39 sparked on Tuesday alone, as tensions rise. Thousands of dunams have been set alight so far; 850 dunams (210 acres) burned in the first half of last week alone, according to Israeli authorities. Rockets attacks have also been increasing, including two on Sunday that were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.
Fragments of an Iron Dome interceptor missile struck outside a home in the town of Sderot, causing damage to the structure and lightly injuring a 58-year-old man.
Israel has responded to the attacks with near-nightly air raids, as well as punitive measures such as closing the Kerem Shalom crossing and shrinking Gaza’s permitted fishing zone.
Gaza’s only power plant ceased functioning on Tuesday morning, drastically reducing the amount of electricity Gaza residents will receive, the Gaza Energy Authority announced. Israel banned diesel fuel from entering the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Thursday after dozens of balloons and several rockets were launched from Gaza into Israeli territory.
The tensions have come after several months of relative calm along the border, thanks to
a tacit ceasefire that managed to break a cycle which had seen recurring skirmishes along the border, as well as rocket attacks, some deep in Israeli territory.
Palestinian groups claim that the current escalation is the result of Israel violating a 2018 ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Some reports in Hebrew media, however, suggest that Hamas is attempting to pressure the Qatari government — which has been a major source of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip — to continue its payments to poor Gazan families, which are scheduled to end in September.
A delegation of Egyptian intelligence officials visited the Gaza Strip on Monday, reportedly to negotiate an agreement which would reduce tensions between the Hamas terror leadership and Israel. They left Gaza on Monday evening through the Erez-Beit Hanoun crossing with Israel without announcing whether or not an agreement had been reached.
(Arutz 7).
