Israel hits 100 Hamas targets in Gaza after two rockets fired at Tel Aviv
Army pounds sites in the Palestinian coastal enclave in response to projectiles over Israeli city, though terror group ruling the territory does not claim responsibility
Israeli warplanes struck some 100 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday in response to a rare rocket attack on the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
Rocket fire persisted into the morning, setting the stage for additional possible reprisals.
The army said its targets included an office complex in Gaza City used to plan and command Hamas terror activities, an underground complex that served as Hamas’s main rocket-manufacturing site, and a centre used for Hamas drone development.
In Gaza, health officials reported four people wounded, including a husband and wife in the southern town of Rafah. There were no further details.
The office building struck by Israel had been used by Hamas’s office of prisoner affairs.
The sudden outbreak of violence comes at a sensitive time for both sides, and it appeared that Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers had incentives to end the fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the middle of a tight re-election battle.
A tough response would draw international criticism and domestic accusations that he is acting out of political motivations ahead of the April 9 vote. But a restrained response would attract criticism from his fellow hardline rivals.
Hamas, meanwhile, is coping with its own domestic problems.
Israel and Egypt have maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza since Hamas took over the territory in 2007. The blockade, along with sanctions by the rival Palestinian Authority and Hamas’s own mismanagement, have fueled an economic crisis that has driven unemployment to more than 50%.
Shortly before the rocket attack, Hamas police on Thursday violently broke up a rare protest by demonstrators angry about the dire living conditions in Gaza.
The crackdown triggered heavy criticism on social media, raising the possibility that the rocket fire was a diversionary tactic.
Palestinian media in Gaza said a weekly protest along the Israeli border would take place as usual.
The fighting came as Egyptian mediators were trying to extend a ceasefire between the bitter enemies, which last fought a war in 2014. The Egyptians left Gaza late on Thursday.
Hamas, which typically claims responsibility for its military actions, denied involvement in the rocket attack on Tel Aviv and even said it had undermined its interests. But Israel’s military said it had concluded the group was behind the attack.
We hit 100 Hamas military targets in Gaza in response to the rockets they fired at Israeli civilians. Among them:
• Underground rocket manufacturing site
• HQ responsible for orchestrating Hamas terrorism in Judea & Samaria
• Hamas center of unmanned aerial aircraft#StopHamas pic.twitter.com/Iy3DwpNpTU— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 15, 2019
“The IDF holds the Hamas terror organisation responsible for all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip and emanating from it,” the military said in a statement.
The late-night attack on Thursday on Tel Aviv, Israel’s densely populated commercial and cultural capital, marked a dramatic escalation in hostilities. It was the first time the city had been targeted since a 2014 war between Israel and Gaza terrorists.
Following the first Israeli air strikes, several additional rounds of rocket fire were launched into Israel. The military said several rockets were intercepted by its air defence systems, and there were no reports of injuries.
The initial blasts from the Israeli air strikes in southern Gaza were so powerful that smoke could be seen in Gaza City, 15 miles (25km) to the north. The Israeli warplanes could be heard roaring through the skies above Gaza City.
Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies and have fought three wars since the Islamic terror group seized power in Gaza in 2007. Smaller flare-ups have occurred sporadically since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.
Despite its denial, Hamas is one of the only groups in Gaza with the means to strike Tel Aviv. A smaller terror group, the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, also possesses a large arsenal of rockets, though it too denied involvement.
Smaller Salafi groups inspired by Islamic State also operate in Gaza, though it is unclear whether they have powerful rockets capable of striking so deep inside Israel.
Brigadier General Ronen Manelis, the chief Israeli military spokesman, said the army had been caught off guard by Thursday night’s rocket barrage and had no advance intelligence.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Naftali Bennett, a hardline rival of Mr Netanyahu, called on the prime minister to convene a gathering of his Security Cabinet and demand the army “present a plan to defeat Hamas”.
Earlier this week, Israel struck Hamas targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire on southern Israel, near the border. Late on Thursday, local media said Egyptian mediators had left the territory.
At the time, Mr Netanyahu issued a warning to Hamas, rejecting suggestions that Israel would be reluctant to take tough action in Gaza ahead of national elections next month.
“I suggest to Hamas, don’t count on it,” he told his Cabinet. “We will do anything necessary to restore security and quiet to the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip and to the south in general.”
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