Israel bombs 34 sites in Gaza following rocket attacks on southern Israel
Published July 1, 2014
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Air Force bombed 34 sites in the Gaza Strip.
The attacks, identified as “precision strikes,” came in response to 18 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel over a 24-hour period beginning Sunday night, according to the IDF.
International media reported the Israeli strikes on Gaza, linking it to the discovery Monday afternoon of the bodies of three kidnapped Israeli teens, which Israel has blamed on Hamas.
Several more rockets were fired from Gaza on southern Israel in the hours after Israel’s retaliatory strikes. A fire broke out in a field in Sderot from one of the rockets fired from Gaza on Tuesday morning and later spread, requiring several firefighting squads and at least two firefighting planes to put it out. Another rocket damaged several cars in a southern Israeli community.
“The IDF will continue to act in order to restore the peaceful living to the civilians of the state of Israel. The Hamas terror organization and its extensions are solely responsible for any terror activities emanating from the Gaza Strip,” IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement.