Israel Strikes Hamas Targets After Rocket Fire

The Israeli military says it has struck several Hamas terror sites in Gaza following a rocket attack on southern Israel.

The military says its jets struck eight military targets in three Hamas compounds in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday.

The strikes were in response to an overnight rocket attack — the first firing from Gaza since a missile hit a house in the city of Beersheba a week ago, threatening to spark another full-fledged confrontation.

Egypt and the United Nations are trying to mediate a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas.

The IDF said on Thursday that media reports that the Iron Dome missile fired at an incoming projectile from Gaza Wednesday night had missed its target were incorrect.

Rather, the interceptor was redirected in midflight after IDF officers saw that the Gaza rocket was headed for an uninhabitated area and posed no threat to life or property.

“The Iron Dome wasn’t meant to intercept the rocket that landed last night in Eshkol. [The rocket] was heading toward open land,” said IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, in an interview Thursday on Army Radio.

The decision to redirect the Iron Dome interceptor was made to avert the danger of debris falling from a successful hit and landing in populated areas.