Following renewed rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army today attacked Islamist Hamas positions in the Palestinian territory. Palestinian militants had previously fired two rockets at Israel. The rocket attacks came a year after the targeted killing of the military chief of the Islamic Jihad organization, Baha Abu al-Ata, by the Israeli air force.
In the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod, the warning sirens wailed at night, as the army announced. The Iron Dome missile defense system had been used.
„In response, Israeli fighter jets, attack helicopters and tanks attacked military posts and an underground Hamas facility,“ the army statement said. According to Hamas, the attacks in the north and south of the coastal strip caused property damage. However, there was no information on injuries.
Warning from Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a sharp warning to the militant groups in the Gaza Strip. „I warn the terrorist organizations in Gaza, do not put us to the test – even during the Corona crisis,“ said Netanyahu, according to his office. He does not want to go into details, „but the price for further aggression will be very, very high“.
At the end of August, Hamas, after mediation by Qatar, announced a ceasefire with Israel. But then there were already several violations. Israel tightened a blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2007, which is now supported by Egypt. Both countries justify the measure with security considerations.
Around two million people live under very poor conditions in the coastal strip on the Mediterranean. The Islamist Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the USA and the EU.
