Tel aviv: On Thursday morning, Israel began conducting airstrikes against a number of "terrorist" targets in Gaza, just hours after an Iron Dome air defence system intercepted a rocket fired from the region.
Around three o'clock on Thursday morning, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a tweet that "the IDF is currently striking in Gaza." It revealed some information about the raid's targets about 30 minutes later, saying that "IDF fighter jets struck a production site for the production of raw chemical materials, as well as a manufacturing site for weapons belonging to the Hamas Terrorist Organization."
No immediate reports of casualties were made, but social media videos purportedly showing multiple explosions in central Gaza, one of the world's densestly populated areas, were circulating.
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One rocket fired from the strip was intercepted by the Israeli military on Wednesday afternoon, and just before the overnight strikes, Sderot and nearby towns reportedly once more heard missile warning sirens blaring. Several rockets launched from Gaza into Israel on Friday also led to retaliatory airstrikes against Hamas targets.
The military continued, "The IDF holds Hamas accountable for all terrorist activity emanating from Gaza and it will suffer the results of the security violations against Israel.
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The most recent outbreak of violence comes after an Israeli security raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank last Thursday, which, according to local authorities, resulted in the deaths of ten Palestinians. According to Israeli officials, the army was trying to apprehend suspected terrorists when they opened fire and were killed.
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Before the shooter, a 21-year-old Palestinian, was shot and killed by police on Friday night in East Jerusalem, seven people were killed and three more were hurt. A few hours later, in another incident in the city's Silwan neighbourhood, two armed civilians "neutralised" a 13-year-old Palestinian attacker.