Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for any attacks out of the territory.
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“Overnight, in response to the ongoing attacks against Israeli forces, an Israel Air Force aircraft targeted four Hamas terrorist infrastructure sites in the northern Gaza Strip”, the Israeli military said in a statement.
The Islamic Jihad armed wing, another militant group active in Gaza, but less influential, also warned Israel of any escalation against Gaza.
Israel and Hamas fought a 51-day-long offensive in July through August of 2014, amid rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip and the fear of underground tunnels. Shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to the Gaza border to examine a recently discovered terror tunnel, a Palestinian sniper fired upon an IDF position from Saja’iyya in the Gaza Strip. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner called it the “most serious” escalation since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military demolished the home of a Palestinian attacker who gunned down two Israelis in front of their children previous year.
To build the tunnels, Hamas used massive amounts of cement that were sent by donor countries such as Qatar for the rehabilitation of neighborhoods that were destroyed during the last war. Toward the end of the 2014 war, Israel destroyed more than 30 tunnels that Hamas had dug under the border. Hamas militants had used the tunnels to infiltrate Israel and carry out attacks.
“It is critical that peace be maintained to ensure the safety and security of Israelis and Palestinians alike”, said Mladenov.
“The IDF [Israeli Defense Force] exposed a second tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip”, he said, confirming that the find was made by Israeli forces inside Gaza. “If Hamas continues its aggression on any level, Israel will continue to respond with all the means at its command”, a statement by the IDF said.
Israel also launched airstrikes on several Hamas targets.
Earlier on Wednesday, anonymous Gaza militants opened fire at an Israeli army bulldozer that was digging into the ground underneath the borderline area between eastern Gaza city and Israel, according to security officials in Gaza.
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Despite that, tensions have increased in recent months, as Hamas encouraged Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to carry out attacks against Israelis, amid a wave of unrest which started in October and claimed the lives of 28 Israelis and almost 200 Palestinians.
