A projectile was launched from Gaza into Israel on Wednesday night, causing the Israel Defense Forces to respond. The rocket was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system.
The Iron Dome missile that was fired on Wednesday night to seize the incoming rocket from Gaza was redirected after it became clear that the rocket was going to land in an open field.
The incoming rocket from Gaza triggered sirens in a number of communities in the Eshkol region in southern Israel, causing thousands of families to rush to nearby bomb shelters.
In response to the rocket attack, an Israeli aircraft hit Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday morning. The IDF said it hit eight targets at the three sites, including Hamas training bases and a weapons production facility.
The army said that Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked Hamas targets in the north of the Strip and in the south, near the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad publicly condemned the rocket launches and said that the projectiles had been fired unintentionally.
The rocket attack ended a relative peace that has continued in Gaza after a flareup between the Hamas terrorist group and Israel last Wednesday, a rocket launched that struck a home in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
The rocket caused significant damage to the house, but no injuries as the family hurried to the bomb shelter. A second rocket launched from the Gaza at the same time landed off the coast of the greater Tel Aviv area.
