Israeli retaliatory airstrikes injure 3 in Gaza
Israeli forces launches airstrikes in Gaza after rocket landed in southern Israel on Tuesday night. Three Palestinians were injured due to Israeli airstrikes in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
- World
- Anadolu Agency
- Published Date: 12:00 | 09 August 2017
- Modified Date: 12:48 | 09 August 2017
Three Palestinians were injured by late night Israeli airstrikes in the blockaded Gaza Strip in response to a rocket fire into Israel.
The head of Al-Shifa hospital's emergency department, Ayman al-Sahbani, said the wounded were hit by shrapnel from the blast and described one of them as seriously injured.
The Israeli military confirmed the retaliatory strike in the Palestinian territory.
"In response to the projectile that hit an open area in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, IAF [Israeli Air Force] aircraft targeted two Hamas posts in the northern Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement.
Rockets are occasionally fired into Israel by smaller Gaza-based groups but Israel says it holds Hamas, which governs the coastal enclave, responsible and routinely responds to rockets by targeting Hamas sites.
In mid-2014, Israel waged a devastating 51-day military onslaught on the Gaza Strip in which more than 2,300 Palestinians were killed and tens of thousands injured.
According to Israeli figures, 68 Israeli soldiers and five Israeli civilians were killed in the conflict, while another 2,522 Israelis -- including 740 soldiers -- were injured.