IDF deals ‘significant’ blow to Hamas in response to Gaza rocket attack

The Israeli military struck a weapons manufacturing site and another facility used by the Palestinian terrorist group to produce and store chemicals included in missiles.

By JNS

The Israel Defense Forces conducted retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Wednesday after Palestinian terrorists fired a rocket towards the Jewish state.

The IDF said that it struck a Hamas weapons manufacturing site and another facility used by the Palestinian terrorist group to produce and store chemicals included in missiles.

The strikes delivered a significant blow to Hamas’ ability to strengthen and arm itself, according to the military, which reiterated that Israel holds the Palestinian terror group responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza.

“Any [rocket] fire at the State of Israel or any attempt to harm the lives of the residents of the south will be met with the strength of the IDF,” Defense Minister Yoav Galant wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.

The bombing runs came hours after Palestinian terrorists fired one rocket from Gaza at Israel, setting off sirens in the city of Sderot and in Kibbutz Nir Am and the village of Ibim nearby.

The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system.

The Magen David Adom emergency service treated a woman in her 50s who fell while running to a bomb shelter in Sderot.

The exchange comes after a barrage of rockets were launched from the Palestinian enclave at Israeli communities last week, prompting retaliatory strikes by the IDF against Hamas military assets.

That, in turn, followed deadly clashes between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israeli troops in Jenin in northern Samaria last Thursday morning.

The latest attack risks further heightening tensions following two Palestinian terrorist shootings over Shabbat, one of which killed seven people at a synagogue in Jerusalem.