Israeli jets strike Gaza after rockets fired across border

Israel has targeted a number of sites in Gaza after the army said Palestinian militants had fired rockets into the south of the country.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said Israeli aircraft had struck three Hamas targets including a rocket manufacturing facility, underground infrastructure and a military post.

“Hamas will bear the consequences for all terror emanating from Gaza,” the force said in a tweet.

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Palestinian media reported the airstrikes shattered windows in east Gaza City. There were no reports of casualties.

Sirens had sounded earlier in the southern port city of Ashkelon and the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, according to the army statement.

“Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory,” a statement from the army said on Friday, adding that they were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defence system.

There were no reports of damage as a result of the interceptions.

Volleys of missiles from the aerial defence system illuminated the sky in northern Gaza Strip as they exploded trying to hit the incoming rockets.

Israeli emergency medical services said a few people were treated for going into shock.

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No Palestinian group in Gaza has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.

The latest fire from the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave came over a month after one rocket was fired from the coastal strip into Israel.

Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel, seized control of Gaza from the rival Palestinian movement Fatah in 2007 in a near civil war. Since then Hamas has fought three devastating wars with Israel in the coastal territory where about 2 million Palestinians live.

Israel has since maintained a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip to prevent Hamas from arming.

With Associated Press