(JTA) — Retaliating for the firing of mortars on Israeli troops near the border with Gaza, Israel Air Force aircraft destroyed a Hamas facility south of Gaza City.
The strike Friday morning, in which a missile was launched at a Hamas watch post, followed the targeting from the Gaza Strip of soldiers patrolling the fence along the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported. The firing of two mortar rounds at Israel Defense Forces troops resulted in no injured and no damage.
The strike Friday was the third time in three days that Israel has retaliated for mortar attacks from Gaza. One woman was killed Thursday during one such attack, according to Palestinian sources in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
At least 16 mortar rounds were launched into Israel from Gaza this week – double the number recorded in the previous four months. Israel holds Hamas directly responsible for the recent attacks, which broke a lull in April, when no launches were recorded, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.
On Thursday, the IDF said it had uncovered a tunnel from Gaza leading into Israel, whose function was to enable terrorist attacks on Israeli soil. Stretching for hundreds of yards, the tunnel was 90 feet underground, according to the IDF.
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