The Israeli army said its jets targeted Hamas positions in the northern Gaza Strip early Thursday in response to machine gun fire aimed at an Israeli border town.
One Palestinian was moderately injured from the strikes, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
“The strikes were conducted in response to the heavy machine gun fire that targeted the city of Sderot and the numerous shooting attacks that targeted IDF soldiers throughout the day,†the Israeli army said in a statement.
The strikes come days after 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces along the Gaza border during protests there.
The protests – fuelled by a US embassy move to Jerusalem and over a decade of blockade on the coastal enclave – made Monday the bloodiest day in Gaza since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, which still controls the territory.
Israel said that Hamas, the Islamist group which most of the West considers a terrorist organisation, is using the protests as a mask to breach the Israeli border fence and attempt attacks on Israeli civilians. (dpa/NAN)
