GAZA CITY (AP) – Israeli aircraft struck several military sites in the Gaza Strip early yesterday, hours after Palestinian militants fired a missile into southern Israel in a move apparently linked to rising tension in the occupied West Bank, Israel said.
The Israeli military said the airstrikes targetted a weapons manufacturing facility and an underground tunnel belonging to Hamas, the militant group that has controlled Gaza since 2007.
The military said more projectiles were fired over the border while warplanes were hitting the Gaza sites.
No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the Saturday evening rocket, which landed in an open area near the Gaza-Israel fence. The border has been quiet since August’s three-day blitz between Israel and the Palestinian militants, a powerful Gaza group that is smaller than the dominant Hamas.
Hamas and other factions have largely honoured the unofficial understandings that have kept the situation in the impoverished territory calm in exchange for thousands of Israeli work permits. Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade on Gaza to prevent Hamas from stocking up weapons.
“The strike overnight continues the progress to impede the force build-up” of Hamas, the Israeli army said.
