Israeli air attacks hit Gaza after rocket fire

Palestinian media reported that the Israeli strikes fell on agricultural land in Gaza, but the Israeli military says it targeted Hamas sites.

Israel has launched air raids on the Gaza Strip after rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave targeted the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, following months of relative calm in the region.

Palestinian media said the Israeli strikes fell on agricultural land in Gaza on Saturday, but the Israeli military said it targeted military sites belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian group which rules the enclave.

“In response to the rocket attack, Israel Defence Forces aircraft struck a number of Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in Gaza or Israel. There was no immediate response from Hamas, nor a claim of responsibility from any of the enclave’s other groups.

The air attack comes a day after Israel launched military raids on Jenin in the occupied West Bank in which three Palestinians were killed and 10 were wounded. Also on Friday, an Israeli observation balloon crashed and fell in the northern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian news agency Wafa named the men killed in Jenin as Baraa Lahlouh, 24, Yusuf Salah, 23, and Laith Abu Suroor, 24.

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