Israeli retaliatory airstrikes target Hamas positions in Gaza

Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli Air Force retaliated for rocket fire from Gaza with strikes targeting five Hamas positions in the coastal strip.

It was not known if the targeted positions were hit by Monday’s airstrikes, which came in response to a rocket fired hours earlier that landed in an open area of the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel early in the morning, the Israel Defense Forces spokesman said. No damage or injuries were reported.

“The IDF holds Hamas accountable for any attacks from the Gaza Strip that jeopardize the safety of Israelis and breach Israel’s sovereignty,” the spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said in a statement.

The Code Red siren did not sound for the rockets fired from Gaza since it was known that they would land in open areas.

It was the seventh rocket fired at Israel in the past month, including several claimed by an ISIS-backed group operating in the Sinai Peninsula.