The Israel Air Force on Tuesday evening began attacking terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a barrage of rocket and mortar fire on southern Israel.
The IDF confirmed earlier on Tuesday evening that terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched six mortars at Israel, hours after a barrage of 22 rockets left three people wounded in Sderot.
“A short while ago, six mortars were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. Some of mortars fell in the area of the security fence while the rest fell in the Gaza Strip. An alert was activated in the Home Front Command App in open areas only,” the IDF stated.
In during the rocket barrage Tuesday afternoon, two rockets struck the city of Sderot, four rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, and 16 rockets landed in open areas.
Three foreign workers were wounded when a rocket struck a construction site in Sderot, one of whom was seriously injured.
The repeated attacks from Gaza come as terrorist groups in the coastal enclave vowed to make Israel pay following the death of hunger-striking Islamic Jihad terrorist Khader Adnan in prison early Tuesday morning.
The defense establishment presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with several alternatives for a response to the rocket barrage into the Gaza Strip. A defense official said that Israel has no desire to be dragged into a large-scale campaign, but that “a larger-than-normal response is expected, and it is possible that the incident will last more than a day.”
In response to the rocket fire, Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi said, “22 rockets were fired into Sderot and surrounding towns with the aim of murdering Israeli civilians. We cannot continue with the restraint. I once again call on the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Cabinet to eliminate the leaders of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. We are operating in places that are much further away, but are not doing enough in an area that is a kilometer from to prevent the firing at Sderot and the surrounding area and the attempt to murder Israelis.”
Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Naftali Bennett blasted the Netanyahu government following the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip and said that “in one day under the Netanyahu government, the enemy in Gaza fired more rockets at us than in an entire year under my government. This is not accidental. I led an aggressive security policy, while Netanyahu leads confusion and weakness.”
The former Prime Minister charged that “the Netanyahu government ‘contained’ rockets from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, so why are we surprised that the enemy continues to fire? The government must come to its senses today, do its job and restore the lost security to the citizens of Israel.”
