JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Air Force bombed two tunnels designed to allow Palestinian terrorists to infiltrate Israel.
The tunnels destroyed last Friday night were near the Gaza-Israel border and were aimed at executing a terror attack against Israeli civilians and soldiers, according to the Israeli army.
The operation was in retaliation for the launching from Gaza of two rockets that hit the Israeli town of Netivot late the previous day.
No one in Netivot was hurt by the Grad-type rockets, which have a range of about 13 miles. The Color Red early warning alarm reportedly did not go off.
The Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in revenge for last week’s killing of three of its members by the Israel Defense Forces in Nablus. The terrorists were murdered while refusing arrest in the fatal shooting of Avshalom Meir Chai, a 45-year-old father of seven.
The Palestinians’ attack followed a mortar attack on Dec. 30 — the first attack from Gaza into Israel in two weeks.
"The IDF will not tolerate the firing of rockets by terrorist organizations at Israel," the IDF said in a statement, "and will continue to respond against any attempt to disrupt the calm in Israel’s southern communities."
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