Israeli aircraft struck a handful of targets in Gaza early Wednesday morning (local time) in retaliation for a rocket attack Tuesday.
“Following yesterday’s rocket attack against #Israel, #IDF aircraft attacked 4 terrorist locations in southern #Gaza,” Israeli Defense Force Spokesman Peter Lerner said on Twitter at about 9:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the Israeli port city of Ashdod earlier on Tuesday, but no casualties or damage were reported, police and the military said.
Israeli officials said they held Hamas responsible for the attack, which was the longest-range militant rocket strike since a truce that ended a 50-day war last year.
It was unclear if there were any casualties from the Israeli airstrike.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday that Islamist Hamas committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip during last year’s war with Israel.
A ceasefire last August ended 50 days of fighting between Gaza militants and Israel in which health officials said more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed. Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians.
“Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of ‘collaborating’ with Israel and others during Israel’s military offensive against Gaza,” the human rights group’s report said.
In a previous report in March, Amnesty also criticized Israel and accused it of war crimes during the conflict. Apart from the many deaths, at least 16,245 homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. Gaza militants fired thousands of rockets and mortars at Israel.
Hasani Gittens
Paul Goldman