IDF airstrike demolishes Hamas building in Gaza City

IDF jets demolished a five-story building in Gaza City used by Hamas’ internal security apparatus, a military spokesman said Thursday evening.

By: TPS and World Israel News Staff

The IDF said the strike came in response to a rocket fired at Beersheva earlier in the day and was an “indication of the IDF’s intelligence and operational capabilities.”

According to the IDF statement, the building served Hamas to manage internal security throughout the Gaza Strip and some of the unit’s personnel were also active in the terrorist organization’s military wing. Palestinian sources said 18 people were injured in the strike.

The attack followed a day of clashes in which Hamas fired close to 200 rockets into Israel and the IDF launched some 150 strikes on targets throughout Gaza. Meanwhile, the Security Cabinet was due to meet Thursday evening to discuss the situation in the south.

In the first incident of its kind since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, a rocket launched from Gaza reached the outskirts of Beersheva on Thursday.

While the rocket didn’t caused any damage, Beersheva mayor Ruvik Danilovich told Kan news, “No country in the world would tolerate such a deterioration of security and a constant threat to their citizens.”

Earlier on Thursday morning, IDF jets targeted over 100 of Hamas’ strategic military sites, including 10 Hamas military compounds in the Gaza Strip, manufacturing facilities, training camps, and an advanced-weapons site.

A senior IDF officer commented to Ha’aretz that Israel is seriously considering a major military operation in Gaza, which could necessitate the evacuation of a number of communities in the south up to four kilometers from the coastal enclave.