Fighters of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement have fired a dozen projectiles at the Israeli-occupied territories overnight after Tel Aviv’s military launched fresh assaults against the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to the Israeli media, the projectiles, which included rockets, caused no casualties or damage and three of them were intercepted by Israel’s so-called Iron Dome missile system.
Hamas said its military wing fired the projectiles in retaliation against Israel’s recent deadly attacks against Gazan protesters along the border.
“The occupation’s escalation and its targeting of the peaceful Palestinian protesters as well as the Palestinian fighters prompted (an) immediate response,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement.
“Every silly measure taken by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians proves the failure of the Israeli policies and miscalculation of the Israeli plans,” Barhoum added.
The rocket fire came shortly after an Israeli airstrike and tank fire targeted two Hamas observation posts in northern Gaza as well as a vehicle belonging to the officials of the resistance group Late on Tuesday.
The Israeli army claimed the vehicle had been “heavily involved” in launching fire kites and balloons fitted with incendiaries over the border.
There were no reports of casualties on the Palestinian side.
Israel carries out regular air raids on Palestinians in Gaza, which has also been under an inhumane Israeli siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008.
Such aerial attacks have seen a rise since March 30, when Palestinians in Gaza began the Great March of Return.
At least 133 Palestinians, including 14 children, have been killed by Israeli forces during the Return rallies at the fence separating Gaza from the Israeli-occupied territories. About 14,600 Palestinians also sustained injuries, of them 300 are currently in a critical condition.