Tel Aviv/Gaza City, Jan. 18, (dpa/GNA) – Israeli fighter jets struck military targets belonging to the radical Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, in response to two rockets fired out of the enclave, the army said in a statement.
The army said the targets included tunnel digging sites.
Hamas military sources said severe destruction was caused to two military facilities east of the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, but no injuries were reported.
The rockets fired earlier from Gaza towards the coast near the Israeli city of Ashdod caused no injuries.
“The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) views any terror activity against Israel with great severity and is ready to continue operating as necessary against attempts to harm Israeli civilians or sovereignty,” the army said.
Despite a Qatari-brokered truce between Hamas and Israel in August, there have been several flare-ups of violence in recent months.
Israel, the United States and the European Union list Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, where some 2 million Palestinians live in crowded, impoverished conditions.
Israel has enforced a blockade on the Strip since 2007, joined later by Egypt. Both argue that the limits on imports is for security reasons.
GNA