03/06/2019
Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed rocket sirens sounded in Gaza’s border communities after a rocket was fired from the enclave on Wednesday night.
Another rocket siren was triggered by an explosive device thrown at the security fence on Gaza’s side.
“As of now, there are no known impact sites. It appears that there was an interception by the Iron Dome air defense system,” an Eshkol spokesperson said.
Palestinian media reported that Israeli tanks fired at positions in the Hamas-run enclave in response.
Earlier this week, an Egyptian delegation met with Hamas officials in Gaza in an attempt to ease the situation in the enclave.
On Tuesday, Israeli fighter jets struck a “number of terror targets” in a Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip in response to arson balloons launched into Israeli territory.
The Israeli government has faced mounting pressure to respond definitively to the launching of improvised incendiary devices from Gaza into Israel, where they have wrought damage to thousands of acres of Israeli farmland near the border since weekly mass protests began on March 30, costing the state millions of dollars in damages.
In November, Hamas and Israel agreed on a ceasefire after months of fighting, but the weekly protests at the border continued, while arson balloons triggered Israeli airstrikes a number of times.
On March 30, the one year anniversary of the “Great March of Return” is expected to turn violent, with mass protests at the border.