WarSclerotic

Source: Israeli jets, tanks strike Hamas targets in response to cross-border fire – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post

Merkava 4 tank.. (photo credit:IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

The IDF carried out an airstrike and artillery shelling against two Hamas targets in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip following gunfire towards IDF troops, the army stated on Thursday.

IDF troops carrying out routine security activities near the security fence along the Gaza border had come under fire, and while no injuries were reported, a military tractor suffered light damage.

Moira Dror from the border community of Netiv Ha’asara told The Jerusalem Post that despite the shelling by the IDF “the outpost is still standing.” Dror, who can see the outpost from her kitchen window, said that even the antenna of the post was still there, adding “perhaps this is a warning to them.”

According to Dror, it’s been really quiet since the end of Operation Protective Edge, “we’ve been living a normal life not thinking about where and when the next rocket will come. But recently things have been heating up,” referring to a rocket that was launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on Wednesday night.

No incoming rocket siren sounded as the projectile was headed towards open territory, landing in an open area near the Ashkelon coastline. There were no reports or injuries or damage from the rocket which was reportedly fired from Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

The rocket was found on Thursday by security forces who had been sweeping the area.

The United Nations’ special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, condemned the attack, saying that “such provocation seek only to undermine peace.”

“This is the third such incident in the past 30 days after a period of almost four months of quiet,” he said, calling on both sides to restrain in order to avoid escalations “that jeopardize the lives of Palestinians and Israelis.”

While there were around 20 rockets launched in 2016 towards Israel from the Gaza Strip, Wednesday evening’s  incident marks the fifth rocket to have been launched at Israel within the last month, including two incidents by the Islamic State Group in Sinai.

Most of them have been claimed by small jihadist groups, many times as a means for pressuring Hamas by raising tensions between the terror organization and Israel. Hamas has cracked down on these small groups, recently carrying out a wave of arrests among Salafi, jihadist, pro-Islamic State organizations.

There has been no official claim of responsibility for the launching of Wednesday’s projectile, but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all fire coming from the Strip.

On Monday IDF jets struck 5 Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a rocket which had launched from the Gaza Strip.

Following last week’s strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that  “We are not ready to accept any drizzle of rockets. We will respond to every firing to our territory. That is what we did today and that is what we will also do in the future.”

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman stated that while Israel has no intention to initiate any military action in Gaza, “we have no intention to continue to absorb drippings (of rockets out of the strip). Hamas must take responsibility and relax.”

Hamas, on their official Twitter account denied responsibility for the rocket and stated that “we place full responsibility for the continuation of this dangerous escalation in Gaza on the Israeli entity, which is targeting the Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza.”

This entry was posted on March 2, 2017 at 7:27 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.