Israel’s military targeted Hamas infrastructure and underground terror facilities on Sunday night after terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired three rockets into southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Monday.
As of yet, no Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, although Israel reiterated its position that Hamas, the de facto government of Gaza, is responsible for all terror attacks launched from its territory.
The attacks, originating from northern Gaza, prompted rocket sirens to blare out across a number of Israeli border communities, but failed to inflict any injury or damage.
According to the IDF, the first two rockets, launched around 7pm on Sunday evening, landed in open territory in the Sdot Negev region, while the third, launched about an hour later, was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.
The recent escalation comes amidst mounting speculation surrounding Israel’s plans for West Bank annexation, which have yet to be confirmed or finalised. Last month, a senior Hamas figure described Israeli annexation as tantamount to “a declaration of war”, threatening a violent response.
The threat came soon after Israel approved a transfer of $50 million from the Qatari government to the Gaza Strip, in an apparent bid to discourage increasing tensions with terror groups in the territory.
So far in 2020, more than 90 rockets had been fired at Israel by terrorists in Gaza.
