Palestinians report several missile strikes in Strip, including east of Gaza City, after missile hits religious school in southern Israel
Israel planes reportedly struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday, hours after a rocket hit a religious school in southern Israel.
Missile strikes were reported at several sites in the Strip, according to the Shehab news website. At least one attack struck a site east of Gaza City, according to the news agency, which is linked to the enclave’s Hamas rulers.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli military.
The strikes came hours after a rocket launched from Gaza slammed into a building housing a religious school, causing damage but no injuries. The rocket struck the outer face of the yeshiva, sending debris onto the sidewalk. A number of tempered-glass windows were also broken. The rocket did not explode, however. Most students had gone home for the weekend, but several people were still inside the school at the time.
On early Thursday morning, a rocket launched from Gaza at the southern community of Nirim was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Politicians and others called for a major military operation after the attack, including assassinating leaders of Hamas.
No Palestinian group has taken responsibility for the attacks, but the military generally holds Hamas responsible for any violence emanating from the enclave.
After the first rocket attack, Israeli aircraft bombed a Hamas underground facility in the southern Gaza Strip.
Tensions with Gaza have been steadily rising in recent days, with Israel blocking Gazan fishermen access to the sea in response to incendiary balloons being launched over the border on Wednesday.
The tensions have threatened to undo an unofficial ceasefire brokered after a major flare-up in early May in which the sides exchanged the most intense fire in years, leading to the deaths of four Israelis and 29 Gazans. Gazans say Israel has been slow in implementing parts of the deal.
As reported by The Times of Israel