Israel responded to the attack by striking two sites in northern Gaza that it said were a part of Hamas’ “terror infrastructure”.
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Turkey on Monday condemned what it said were “disproportionate” Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, insisting that a recent reconciliation pact doesn’t preclude it from speaking out against the country’s actions.
Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes in the blockaded Gaza Strip on Sunday, shortly after a rocket was sacked into southern Israel. “Israel will continue to defend its civilians from all rocket fire on our territory, in accordance with global law and our conscience”.
IDF spokesman Peter Lerner said that the IDF strikes targeted Hamas positions in Gaza.
Turkey criticised Israel for the air strikes in Gaza, saying it would not desist from such condemnation despite the restoration of ties between Ankara and Jerusalem.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said Monday afternoon: “Turkey would do well to think twice before criticizing military operations of other countries,”.
Israel has made clear that it is not seeking an escalation in Gaza even though it carried out more than 50 air strikes on Sunday night in what may be an indication of a new hardline policy by Avigdor Lieberman, who took over as defence minister in May. Two of the rockets hit houses in the town of Sderot and caused damages.
A Palestinian military group affiliated with the Salafist and sharing the same logo as the Islamic State claimed responsibility in a statement for firing the rockets into Israel.
Israeli police said the rocket hit “between two buildings on a road” in Sderot, which is less than four kilometers from Gaza, causing no casualties, AFP reported.
Israel was quick to respond in kind. Security sources in the territory said several targets in northern Gaza were struck by Israeli fire and that a reservoir in Beit Hanun was destroyed.
Just a few hour after the Hamas rocket fire into Israel, the organization’s military wing staged a parade in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip during which they presented rockets produced by the group and bragged about terrorists from the commando unit.
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Since then, a ceasefire has largely held, but some small jihadist groups have defied the agreement and periodically fired rockets at Israel.
