The military attack announced on Twitter was followed by reports of warplanes and explosions across the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s army announced an attack on Gaza late Thursday night, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a video statement promising that his country’s enemies would “pay a price for any aggression.”
The Israeli military attack was followed by reports of explosions across Gaza as warplanes flew overhead. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far, but according to initial media reports, several locations were targeted in the rocket attack.
These include agricultural land in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, two sites south of Gaza City, farmland east of the Al-Zaitoun neighborhood near Gaza City, and one site east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said it struck two tunnels and two weapon facilities in Gaza. News source AFP said a Palestinian security source said Hamas training facilities were hit in the attack.
In response, rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army also announced on Twitter that air raid sirens were also sounding in southern Israel.
Netanyahu was reportedly in a security cabinet meeting during the airstrike. Among the topics discussed were reports of the rocket fire that Israel had recently received.
After the meeting, Netanyahu made a brief statement. “Israel’s response tonight and beyond will exact a heavy price from our enemies,” it said. Israel blames the Palestinian group Hamas for the rocket fire.
Hamas, meanwhile, responded to the airstrikes with a statement: “We hold the Zionist occupation fully responsible for the severe escalation and flagrant aggression against the Gaza Strip and for the consequences that the region will bring.”
Smoke billows from behind buildings in Gaza on April 6 [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]The attack on Gaza, a blockaded Palestinian enclave on the Mediterranean coast, comes after the Israeli military said rockets had been fired from Gaza into southern Israel for the second straight day.
The rocket fire comes amid ongoing tensions over the storming of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli troops, who fired stun grenades, attacking Palestinian worshipers and driving them from the holy site as they gathered for Ramadan prayers.
The Muslim holy month this year coincides with Passover, an important holiday in the Jewish calendar.
Early Wednesday, Israeli authorities said they had used four rockets from Gaza in response to the two attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israeli planes then launched attacks on Gaza, hitting a target in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Strip and two locations west of Gaza City.
Israel’s military said it received more rockets from the Gaza Strip Thursday morning. However, no casualties were reported.
Also on Thursday, Israel claimed it had received rocket fire from Lebanon for the first time since last April. The 34 reported missiles mark the largest launch since Israel’s 34-day war with Hezbollah forces in 2006.
Five landed in Israeli territory, while 25 others were intercepted, according to an Israeli army tweet. Four more launches are “under consideration”.
The Lebanese National News Agency said Israel responded by firing an artillery burst across the border. No deaths were reported there either, although the Israeli emergency services claimed a man was hit by shrapnel and a woman was injured as she sought shelter.
Israel has indicated that the rocket fire from Lebanon came from Hamas or another Gaza-based group.
“It is a Palestinian-oriented event,” said Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht.
Tamir Hayman, a former Israeli military intelligence chief, gave his assessment on Twitter: “What we saw was widespread Palestinian shooting from Lebanon. It’s not Hezbollah shooting, but it’s hard to believe Hezbollah didn’t know about it.”
Hezbollah did not immediately respond to the allegations. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the rocket fire from his side of the border.
A plume of smoke and flames rising from the Gaza Strip on April 6, 2023 [Bashar Talib/Reuters]Netanyahu issued a statement on Twitter earlier Thursday announcing that Israel would “paralyze its enemies” after the rocket fire. He added that these “enemies” would discover that in a test the Israelis “would stand united and support the IDF’s actions [Israel’s army] and other security forces to protect our country and its citizens.”
The United States urged “restraint” amid tensions on Thursday, with State Department spokesman Vedant Patel saying “any unilateral action that jeopardizes the status quo for us is unacceptable.”
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