BICOM

Israel’s Air Force (IAF) carried out a strategic strike on targets in the Gaza Strip last night, after a rocket was fired into southern Israel yesterday.

A rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip exploded in the Western Negev region of southern Israel early yesterday evening, which caused no injuries or damage but prompted Israel’s response. An IDF statement said, “In response to rocket fire towards Israel, an IAF aircraft targeted a terror infrastructure site in the central Gaza Strip and three concealed rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip.” Gaza residents reported hearing explosions but no casualties were reported.

Earlier in the day, Israeli soldiers shot at the legs of a Palestinian youth after a group of suspects entered a border buffer zone and attempted to tamper with the border fence. An IDF spokesperson told AFP that after “numerous” warnings to halt “soldiers then resorted to aiming fire at the individuals’ lower extremities.”

Yesterday’s incidents added to an already tense situation on the Israel-Gaza border over the past few weeks. On Tuesday, an IDF patrol came under fire and last week two rockets landed near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Israel’s Air Force responded with targeted air strikes. Also last week, a Palestinian sniper killed Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, an Israel Defence Ministry contract worker who was carrying out repairs on the border fence. The IDF struck strategic targets in the Gaza Strip in response, which reportedly resulted in the death of a Palestinian toddler.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defence system was deployed last week near the southern cities of Beersheba, Sderot and Ashdod as a precaution in case of an escalation in the violence.