BICOM

Seven rockets were fired yesterday morning from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, with one landing in a street in Sderot. Israel’s Air Force responded by striking two Hamas targets in Gaza.

At around 8am, four rockets landed in open areas in Shar Hanegev, causing no injuries or damage. They were quickly followed by three more rockets, one causing light damage to shops in a residential street in Sderot. Local residents were forced to flee for cover during the final day of the Passover holiday.

Israel’s Air Force responded by striking two Hamas targets in the southern Gaza Strip, which the IDF described as “terror activity sites.” Gaza Ministry of Interior officials reported that two security officials were injured in the operation. Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since violently overthrowing the Fatah faction in 2007 and Israel holds it responsible for all attacks on Israel from Gaza. However, Channel Ten reported that Hamas officials said it was not responsible for yesterday’s attack and did not seek an escalation in violence.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented via Twitter, “Today, the Israel Defence Forces attacked in the Gaza Strip those who sought to harm the citizens of Israel and disturb the calm of the holiday.” Yesterday’s incident was the first Gaza rocket salvo to hit Israel since 4 April. There has been a sharp upsurge in such attacks on Israel since January, including a barrage of around 70 rockets launched by Islamic Jihad in early March.

In another development yesterday, a delegation of five Fatah officials, led by Azzam al-Ahmed travelled to the Gaza Strip for unity talks with Hamas leaders. The two factions have been at loggerheads since 2007 and periodic unity talks since then have failed to bear fruit. Al-Ahmed said he was going with a “clear mission” to “end the state of disagreement.” The talks come with the deadline for peace negotiations between Israel and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority fast approaching next week.