Israel Retaliates: IAF Pounds 15 Hamas Targets in Gaza

IAF launches massive airstrikes against 15 terror sites in Gaza, in response to the Wednesday evening & Thursday morning rocket attacks.

By Elad Benari

 

Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted 15 terror sites in Gaza on Wednesday night.

Airstrike (illustrative)

Airstrike (illustrative) – Reuters

According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the airstrikes targeted concealed rocket launchers, training compounds and weapons storage sites, all of which belong to the Hamas terrorist group.

The statement said that the airstrikes were in retaliation for the latest escalation in rocket attacks on southern Israel.

“The IDF is prepared to defend the citizens of Israel from any threat and will continue to act decisively and as long as necessary until peace is restored,” said the IDF, noting that Hamas is directly responsible for the ongoing rocket fire.

A barrage of at least 20 rockets  were fired at southern Israel on Wednesday, and three more were fired on Wednesday night.

In the last attack, shortly before 1:00 a.m., one rocket exploded near a home in the city of Sderot and caused it minor damages.

The rocket hit a local power line and caused blackouts in parts of the city, but there were no reports of physical injuries.

Two other rockets exploded in open areas in the Shaar Hanegev region. There were no physical injuries or damages.

A continuous rain of rockets have been fired on Israel this week.

15 rockets were fired over Sunday night and Monday morning from Gaza, prompting Israeli security forces to announce that Hamas was directly behind the rocket fire – the first official announcement since the end of the counter-terror Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012.

Last week, several rockets caused a massive fire at a plastics factory in Sderot. Four workers managed to escape the factories before they were set ablaze.

 

View original Arutz Sheva  publication at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182459#.U7S6M7GLUYA