WarSclerotic

Israeli aircraft struck two sites in the Gaza Strip late Thursday in retaliation for rocket and mortar fire from the territory on southern Israel, the military said.

	Palestinian youths in Gaza walking past the remains of a Hamas training camp bombed by the IAF.
	Photo by: Reuters

Security officials with the ruling militant Hamas movement and Palestinian residents reported that four sites were hit. There was no way to immediately reconcile the conflicting reports.

Hamas officials reported five people were wounded in an attack on a training base for security forces of Gaza’s militant ruling Hamas movement. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.

The military said aircraft also struck southern Gaza, where Palestinians operate underground tunnels to smuggle weapons and other contraband from Egypt.

In the 48 hours preceding the strikes, three rockets and mortars fired from Gaza landed in Israel, the military said. No injuries were reported in those attacks.

Rocket and mortar fire from Gaza were a near-daily event for years before Israel launched a bruising war in Gaza in the winter of 2008. Attacks and border clashes continue, but on a much-reduced scale