Rocket Barrages Fired from Gaza; IDF Retaliated with Airstrikes
Dozens of rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza towards Israeli communities on Tuesday in a major escalation in southern Israel. The IDF retaliated by attacking more than 30 targets across the strip, including a terror tunnel stretching 900 meters into Israeli territory
IsraelDefense
| 29/05/2018
Smoke rises from Gaza following the Israeli airstrike (Photo: AP)
The Israeli Air Force struck several targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after salvos of mortars and rockets were fired at southern Israeli communities early that morning.
"We've pinpointed 30 mortars with certainty and deduced the rest were machinegun bullets," the IDF said in a statement. Apart from the dozens of mortars, the IDF added that several 107mm Iranian rockets were fired as well, with the IDF calling it the "most serious incident since Operation Protective Edge."
While the majority of the mortars were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense System, three fell in open territory and another two exploded inside communities in the Eshkol Regional Council, including one which fell in the yard of a kindergarten.
In response to the morning salvo, an IDF spokesperson said the military retaliated by attacking more than 30 terror targets around the strip, belonging to both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including weapons storehouses, outposts and a Hamas tunnel in the southern strip.
Both the United Nations' Middle East envoy and the European Union's Ambassador in Israel condemned the "indiscriminate" firing of rockets at southern Israeli communities as "unacceptable."
Among the targets struck by IAF aircraft was a terror tunnel that stretched 900 meters into Israeli territory. "It was the tenth tunnel we destroyed," an IDF official said. "It was under construction by Hamas and had yet to be completed. We attacked its shafts on the Rafah side."
Meanwhile, the Israeli Navy today enforced its maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip, stopping a flotilla of Gazan protesters seeking to breach Israel's naval barrier. The flotilla consists of numerous vessels carrying 22 Palestinians activists, students, and patients in need of medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza towards Israeli communities on Tuesday in a major escalation in southern Israel. The IDF retaliated by attacking more than 30 targets across the strip, including a terror tunnel stretching 900 meters into Israeli territory
Smoke rises from Gaza following the Israeli airstrike (Photo: AP)
The Israeli Air Force struck several targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after salvos of mortars and rockets were fired at southern Israeli communities early that morning.
"We've pinpointed 30 mortars with certainty and deduced the rest were machinegun bullets," the IDF said in a statement. Apart from the dozens of mortars, the IDF added that several 107mm Iranian rockets were fired as well, with the IDF calling it the "most serious incident since Operation Protective Edge."
While the majority of the mortars were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense System, three fell in open territory and another two exploded inside communities in the Eshkol Regional Council, including one which fell in the yard of a kindergarten.
In response to the morning salvo, an IDF spokesperson said the military retaliated by attacking more than 30 terror targets around the strip, belonging to both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including weapons storehouses, outposts and a Hamas tunnel in the southern strip.
Both the United Nations' Middle East envoy and the European Union's Ambassador in Israel condemned the "indiscriminate" firing of rockets at southern Israeli communities as "unacceptable."
Among the targets struck by IAF aircraft was a terror tunnel that stretched 900 meters into Israeli territory. "It was the tenth tunnel we destroyed," an IDF official said. "It was under construction by Hamas and had yet to be completed. We attacked its shafts on the Rafah side."
Meanwhile, the Israeli Navy today enforced its maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip, stopping a flotilla of Gazan protesters seeking to breach Israel's naval barrier. The flotilla consists of numerous vessels carrying 22 Palestinians activists, students, and patients in need of medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
