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Israel launched an airstrike on Gaza this Thursday, targeting a Hamas facility in response to a rocket Tel Aviv claims was launched by Hamas militants. Hamas denies it has launched any rockets since summer 2014, according to The Times of Israel.
According to preliminary reports, the Israeli attack on an alleged Hamas weapons factory did not leave any victims.
The projectile Israel claims was launched by Hamas landed in an open field in southern Israel, not damaging any people or property.
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This would not be the first time Israel has launched an attack on Gaza based on false claims, such as those it made last year to justify its indiscriminate 51-day attack on the coastal Palestinan enclave, which left over 2,300 Palestinians dead, most of whom were civilians. More than 450 were children. Some 11,000 Palestinians were injured, including 3,000 children, more than 20,000 homes were destroyed and 500,000 people were left displaced in Gaza.
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Reuters reports that Salafi jihadist groups, which support al-Qaida's calls for a global holy war, have claimed most of the sporadic rocket strikes on Israel from the Gaza Strip since the end of Israel's attacks on the enclave last year.
A small Salafi group took responsibility for a rocked launched into Israel in August, hitting southern Israel, after which Israeli planes bombed a Hamas training camp, wounding four security men. Yet Israel insists on holding Hamas accountable for all attacks from Gaza.
The Times of Israel said, “It was not clear who was responsible for the rocket attack (in southern Israel.) It was unlikely that it was orchestrated by Hamas, which has refrained from firing at Israel since the conclusion of 2014’s summer war. Sporadic rocket fire over recent months has largely been the work of small Salafi groups chafing under Hamas rule.”
The Israeli airstrike comes two days after Israeli settlers attacked a Palestine family in the West Bank. Four people, including three children, were injured.
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