Israel

  • Print Friendly, PDF & Email
  • Send to Kindle

Three Rockets Fired into Southern Israel; IDF Strikes Hamas Facilities in Gaza

Israeli planes and tanks struck two Hamas facilities in the northern Gaza Strip following the firing of three rockets into Israel on Friday.

Israel’s Iron Dome intercepted two of the rockets, but a third fell and damaged a building in Israel’s Shaar Hanegev region, on the border with with Gaza, The Times of Israel reported.

The rockets were the first fired into Israel since December 18 after two weeks of rocket attacks earlier in the month.

Hamas facilities were targeted even though most of the recent rocket attacks appear to be launched by other Gaza-based terror groups, because Hamas, which maintains complete military and political control over Gaza, has refused to stop their attacks.

A commemoration in honor of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was killed in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge and whose body is still being held by Hamas, was interrupted by the “Code Red” alert for the rockets. When asked if the rockets had been fired to coincide with the commemoration an army official said, that it “absolutely could be,” the case. Usually rockets from Gaza are fired during the night, but this time they were fired in the middle of the day.

[Photo: Journeyman Pictures / YouTube]