The IDF launched a counter attack late Tuesday night in response to rocket fire aimed by Gaza terrorists Tuesday evening at Jewish communities in southern Israel.
Arab media in Gaza reported the Israel Defense Force was targeting “resistance” sites in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The rocket fire was preceded by a mortar attack launched from Gaza at southern Israel one day earlier. The shell exploded in an open field in the Eshkol Regional Council district, according to the IDF Spokesperson.
The attack broke an unofficial nine-day ceasefire that had had a rocky beginning that saw more than a dozen rockets fired at Israel, all violations of the agreement, at the start of the so-called “truce” brokered by Egypt to end a clash that saw Israel assassinate the northern Gaza commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization.
Baha Abu al-Ata was a known Iranian protégé and one of Israel’s most dangerous enemies. His death prompted the return fire of more than 450 rockets and missiles aimed at the Jewish State, which responded with air strikes aimed at the terror group’s positions in the enclave.
Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization stayed out of the conflict – a first – and Israel likewise did not aim its strikes at Hamas targets.