JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israel Air Force targeted a Gaza terrorist in response to the launching of a Kassam rocket into Sderot.
It was the second rocket attack on Israel and the second retaliatory attack in less than 24 hours.
Israel’s airstrike Thursday targeted Machmad Uda Chamdan Samiri, 25, a known terror operative of the Global Jihad in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israel Defense Forces. A former Hamas terror operative who received military training with Hamas, Samiri was wounded in the attack. According to Palestinian reports, seven Palestinian children also were wounded. Samiri took part in a March 2008 attack that killed two Israeli soldiers, the IDF said.
The attack followed the launching of a Kassam rocket from Gaza Thursday morning that landed in an open area near Sderot.
Following a rocket attack on southern Israel Wednesday night, Israel launched a successful aerial attack against a weapons manufacturing facility in Rafah, according to the IDF.
"As the sole authority in the Gaza Strip, Hamas bears full responsibility for all terrorist activity originating from Gaza," said an IDF statement released Thursday. "The IDF will respond to any terror attacks in accordance with decisions made by the Israeli government."
