IDF warplanes strike underground terrorist installation in Gaza Strip

The IDF hit an underground installation belonging to Hamas in retaliation for a Hamas rocket fired on Israel’s south.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Israeli fighter jets struck an underground terrorist infrastructure belonging to Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday night. The attack was in response to rocket fire from Gaza earlier that night, the IDF reported.

One terrorist rocket was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.  The explosion was heard by local residents in the Eshkol region, an area bordering the southeastern portion of the Strip.

“The IDF will continue to act against attempts to harm Israeli civilians and considers the terrorist organization Hamas responsible for everything that is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip,” the Army spokesperson’s office said in a statement.

After a brief interlude, things are heating up along the Gaza border once again. On Wednesday, Israel imposed a maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip after eight fires were ignited by balloon bombs floated in by Hamas terrorists.

“We are worried about the increase in the arson terror and about the damage it’s causing to our nature and our agriculture,” Eshkol Regional Council head Gadi Yarkoni said, according to Ha’aretz.

According to the Walla! news portal, Eyal Hajabi, security officer for the Eshkol Regional Council, said “Hamas continues to fire balloons and it’s getting worse. On the face of it, it seems that a military operation is approaching. ”

After an intense, weekend-long Hamas rocket barrage at the start of May, in which Israel responded with retaliatory airstrikes, an undeclared ceasefire took hold between the sides. That appears now to be unraveling.