The Israeli military attacked two sites in Gaza early Wednesday in retaliation for rocket fire on southern Israel a few hours earlier.
The eruption in Gaza came as a massive military operation in the West Bank drew to a close and hundreds of Israeli troops withdrew from Jenin after two days of intense fighting in the Palestinian refugee camp.
Warplanes attacked “an underground weapons workshop of the Hamas terrorist group’s chemical unit and a missile component processing site,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement shortly before 5:30 a.m
It said the attacks were in retaliation for rocket fire on southern Israel earlier in the day.
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A Palestinian security source said there were no injuries.
Palestinian media reported that Israeli planes hit sites in al-Baydar west of Gaza City and Beit Lahiyeh in the northern strip. According to Palestinian reports, several houses in al-Baydar were damaged.
A few hours earlier, the Iron Dome air defense system managed to repel five rockets fired from Gaza at the city of Sderot and surrounding areas.
Shrapnel from an interceptor hit a house in Sderot, causing damage to the ceiling but no casualties.
There was no claim to rocket fire. Israel says it holds Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, responsible for all attacks launched from that area, regardless of the group launching the attack.
The rocket fire was the first from the coastal enclave since May 14, at the end of a five-day spate of violence between the IDF and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
It came as Israeli troops pulled out of Jenin after a 44-hour raid on terrorist groups in the Palestinian refugee camp next to the West Bank city.
In response to the Jenin attack, the IDF was already on high alert for possible rocket fire from Gaza. Authorities canceled a major concert in the southern city of Sderot on Monday, despite no other precautionary measures being taken.
As troops began withdrawing, one Israeli soldier was killed in a gun attack, the IDF said, as fighting continued in some areas. Palestinian health officials said 13 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in the course of the operation, which began early Monday.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the army is investigating whether the soldier was hit by Palestinian gunfire or so-called “friendly fire” from other Israeli forces in the area.
Splinters rained down over southern Israel, near the city of Sderot, after five rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, July 5, 2023. (Courtesy)
He said at least 18 Palestinian gunmen were killed by Israeli forces.
According to the IDF, all the Palestinians killed were involved in the fighting, but some non-combatants were among the wounded.
Israeli and Palestinian officials also reported fighting late Tuesday near a hospital in Jenin. An Associated Press reporter on the ground could hear explosions and the sound of gunfire. Officials at a Palestinian hospital told the official Wafa news agency that three civilians were hit by Israeli fire.
Early Tuesday, a Hamas terrorist rammed his car into a crowded Tel Aviv bus stop and began stabbing people. Eight people were injured, including a pregnant woman who had reportedly lost her baby. The attacker was killed by an armed passerby. Hamas said the attack was revenge for the Israeli offensive.
Over 1,000 IDF troops were involved in what appeared to be the largest campaign in the West Bank for around 20 years.
Debris on the streets of the West Bank city of Jenin after a major Israeli offensive, July 4, 2023. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Jenin Mayor Nidal Al-Obeidi said around 4,000 Palestinians, nearly a third of the camp, have fled to relatives or temporary shelters.
Shortly after midnight, residents began taking to the streets again. There was no immediate confirmation from the military that the army had completely withdrawn.
Returned residents reported devastated streets, roads torn up and buildings reduced to rubble.
Kefah Ja’ayyasah, a resident of the camp, said soldiers forcibly entered her home and locked the family inside.
“They took the young men of my family upstairs and left the women and children in the first floor apartment,” she said.
Residents of the Jenin refugee camp evacuate their homes as the Israeli military advances an operation in the West Bank region on Monday, July 3, 2023. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)
She claimed the soldiers did not allow her to take food to the children and prevented a rescue team from entering the home when she cried for help, before finally allowing the family to go to a hospital.
The IDF denied blocking ambulances or rescue workers
The military operation began just after 1 a.m. Monday with a series of airstrikes on multiple targets in the city, including a shared warroom used by various armed groups in the city.
Throughout the campaign, the IDF said troops located and destroyed at least eight weapons storage sites, six explosives laboratories with hundreds of ready-to-fire devices, three war rooms where Palestinian gunmen were monitoring Israeli forces, and other “terrorist infrastructure.” The IDF said it also seized 24 assault rifles, 8 handguns and dozens of bullets.
The troops also conducted around 20 drone strikes against various targets in the refugee camp.
Palestinian gunmen take position during a confrontation with the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Jenin, July 3, 2023. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
The northern West Bank, and in particular the city of Jenin and its environs, has long been viewed by the IDF as a hotbed of terrorism, as illustrated by a series of attacks in early 2022, many perpetrated by residents of the region.
According to the IDF, around 50 shooting attacks have been carried out by residents in the area since last year, and 19 wanted Palestinians fled to Jenin to seek refuge from Israeli forces.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have been high across the West Bank for the past year and a half, as the military conducted raids almost every night and a series of deadly Palestinian terrorist attacks.
Since the beginning of this year, 24 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank.
According to a Times of Israel tally, 147 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank during that period – most of them in clashes with security forces or in attacks, but some were innocent civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.