Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 1, injure 2
Jerusalem - Israel carried out retaliatory strikes on Gaza on Saturday, killing one Palestinian and seriously wounding two, following two nights of rocket attacks that were the first since September, the Health Ministry said.
Dozens of pre-dawn airstrikes targeted bases of Hamas and allied groups, a Gaza security source said.
The Israeli army said the strikes targeted a wide range of Hamas targets, including a naval base, a military compound and a weapons manufacturing plant.
The Hamasrun Health Ministry identified the person killed as Ahmed al Shehri. It did not say whether he was affiliated with any armed group.
The sound of explosions was heard across the tiny but densely populated territory.
After daybreak, curious onlookers gathered around a large crater scooped out of the sandy soil by the force of one of the blasts.
A Hamas source said it had fired at the Israeli aircraft carrying out the raids and the Israeli military confirmed fresh ‘incoming fire’.
The airstrikes came after at least ten rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel late on Friday causing damage but no casualties.
The Israeli military said eight of the rockets were intercepted by air defences.
Air raid sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the border. One family house was hit, without causing any casualties, the army said, posting a picture of the damage on Twitter.
It was the second consecutive evening that the army reported rocket fire from Gaza, shattering a calm that had lasted since September 12.
In August, a spate of rocket attacks, retaliatory airstrikes and clashes along the border had raised fears of an escalation as a general election approached in Israel.
Those polls - Israel’s second general election this year - took place on September 17, but have yet to yield a new government.
The airstrikes came after at least ten rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel