IDF attacks Gaza after Hamas sends ‘significantly stronger’ bombs into Israel

Hamas had warned of increased violence. One Palestinian is reportedly killed in the Israeli response.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli military says that it has been firing back at Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after the terror group stepped up attacks across the Gazan-Israeli border.

The IDF said in a statement early Sunday that it had carried out an airstrike on two Hamas lookout posts in the southern portion of the Strip “in response to an increase in the number of devices which have been hurled and exploded during the night.”

On Saturday, the IDF said that it had attacked members of terror cells involved in the launching of incendiary balloons from Gaza to Israel.

Gazan authorities said that one Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike.

According to Israeli news outlet Kan, the bombs Hamas sent into Israel on Saturday night “were significantly stronger than the last few nights. In addition, the riots took longer and spread over several locations.”

Israelis living near the border posted on social media about the sleepless nights they are experiencing as a result of the latest uptick of Hamas violence. The terror group had vowed to step up attacks this weekend, leading up to the first anniversary of its violent protests that it labeled The Great Marches of Return, which were launched last March 30th.

“I had a restless night, and was woken numerous times by loud explosions,” said Adele Raemer, a resident of a kibbutz near the border, on Sunday morning.

“It was a night of ongoing booms…I put in earplugs, turned the volume of my baby monitor up,” said Deborah Benson-Ben Aderet.

Later on Sunday morning, an unexploded rocket was reportedly found in the southern Israeli city of Netivot, located about 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the Gazan border.

Earlier this month, rockets were fired from Gaza into the Tel Aviv area, over 90 kilometers (nearly 60 miles) from the border.

Border residents complain that the attacks in their area do not get as much attention.

“What the Hamas don’t understand is that keeping the citizens of Otef Aza [the Gaza area] awake isn’t going to change anything for them. Only if they kept people in the center of the country up at night would there be enough pressure on the [Israeli] electorate to force a change,” said Raemer.

Israelis near the Gazan border also complain that even when relative quiet is reported, they still contend with sporadic attacks which also cause damage.