Israeli warplanes strike back over Gaza rocket salvo

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israeli warplanes pounded 29 Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip Thursday night in response to heavy Palestinian rocket fire into the Jewish state earlier, the military said.

Palestinian eyewitnesses, including an AFP photographer, said warplanes hit bases of the strip’s Hamas rulers and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the al- Quds Brigades, which had claimed responsiblity for firing dozens of rockets into Israel.

An army statement late Wednesday night said the remains of 60 rockets had so far been located, five of which hit populated areas.

“In response to the massive rocket attack that hit Israel earlier this evening, the Israel Air Force targeted 29 terror sites in the Gaza Strip. Direct hits were confirmed,” it said.

“This retaliation was precise and prompt. We targeted the infrastructure that serves the terrorists while they train, plan and implement their hideous attacks,” it quoted Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, the chief military spokesman, as saying.

“They will not be permitted to conspire in the safety of their terrorist temples.”

Al Quds said it fired 90 rockets at Israel in response to an air strike on Tuesday that killed three of its militants in southern Gaza.

The militant strikes, which sent tens of thousands of Israeli in the south to seek shelter were the biggest wave of attacks since a major eight- day November 2012 confrontation between Israel and Hamas. — AFP