The Israeli Army launched airstrikes early Friday morning against a Hamas subway rocket production and development complex in the Gaza Strip in response to the launching hours earlier of missiles into Israel.
«In response to rockets launched from Gaza into Israel, we have struck a Hamas subway position in Gaza used as a rocket development and manufacturing complex,» it said.
«We hold Hamas responsible for all terrorist activity emanating from Gaza,» the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has stressed through a message on its account on the social network Twitter.
According to the Israeli Army, this attack «will damage the attempts of the Islamic Resistance Movement terrorist organization to strengthen itself and arm itself with rockets», as reported by the daily ‘The Jerusalem Post’.
In response, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem said that «Israel’s terrorism will not prevent the Palestinian people from increasing the revolution throughout Palestine».
«Despite the aggression, we will continue our legitimate struggle against the occupier until our people’s goals of freedom and independence are achieved,» he said, before calling the Israeli bombardment «blatant aggression».
Qazem also stressed that the air strike is «an extension of the open war against the Palestinian people everywhere», as reported by the Palestinian news agency Maan.
Hours earlier, the Israeli Armed Forces had warned of the launching of four rockets from the Gaza Strip. After 9 p.m. on Thursday (local time), air raid sirens began to sound in the towns of Kissufim, Ein HaShlosha and Nirim, all located near the Gaza border, according to the daily ‘The Times of Israel’.
The IDF has indicated the country’s air defense system, known as ‘Iron Dome’, has managed to intercept one of the projectiles launched from Palestinian territory. The other three rockets, fired moments later, failed to set off the anti-aircraft alarms and it is estimated that they may have fallen short and ended up landing in the enclave.
According to the above-mentioned media, these attacks were carried out hours after Farouk Salame, identified as «commander» of the Islamic Jihad group, was killed during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.
