IDF strikes targets in Gaza after rocket attacks

IAF locates targets in north, central Gaza Strip; IDF identifies direct hits, holds Hamas responsible for rocket attacks.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Smoke rises after an IAF airstrike in Gaza 311 (R) (photo credit: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)
Smoke rises after an IAF airstrike in Gaza 311 (R)
(photo credit: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)
The IDF struck targets in the Gaza Strip Wednesday night, after five rockets fired from the Strip pounded farming regions in southern Israel.
The Israel Air Force attacked "centers of terror activity in the northern and central Gaza Strip," the IDF Spokesman's Office announced in a statement, identifying direct hits.
"The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli citizens or IDF soldiers, and will continue to act against any terrorist activity against the State of Israel," the IDF said. "Hamas is a terrorist organization, and bears all responsibility."
Palestinian reports of the attack did not mention any casualties.
The IDF said Wednesday night's strikes were a response to rocket fire targeting southern communities in Israel bordering the Strip.
Two rockets exploded in the Sdot Negev Regional Council, two more fell in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, and a fifth fell in the Eshkol Regional Council.
No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks.
"We can't accept this drizzle of rockets," Yair Farjun, head of the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council said following the attacks. "We live in a bizarre reality" Farjun told The Jerusalem Post. "We switch from emergency and then back to routine. We've lived like this for many years."
Farjun recounted a rocket attack last Friday evening in which a projectile smashed into an area between two homes in a kibbutz, "shattering the tranquility of the Sabbath. And tonight, we heard a massive boom again."
He added that Israel "can't tolerate such a continuing situation, where our calm is shattered. It must be made clear to them that there is a price to this."
On Friday, a Kassam rocket exploded in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, causing light damage to buildings in the blast radius. The attack prompted a response from the Israel Air Force, which struck four terror targets on Saturday night.
Hospital officials in Gaza said that the air strike killed a Palestinian civilian, a guard in his 50s or 60s at an animal farm east of Gaza City. His caravan was hit by a missile and his adult son was wounded, the officials said.