Gaza rockets hit Israel after overnight air strikes

December 29, 2011

AFP – 3 hours ago

Palestinian militants fired two rockets at southern Israel on Thursday, after

Israeli warplanes attacked " terror sites " inside the Gaza Strip, the army said.

The first, which landed in an open field on Thursday morning, was claimed by the

Popular Resistance Committees in a statement sent to AFP.

A second fell during the afternoon, the military said, reporting no injuries or

damage in either case.

Overnight, Israeli warplanes targeted " terror sites " in central and northern

Gaza in retaliation after rockets were fired across the border on Wednesday.

" Israeli air force aircraft targeted a terror activity site in the central Gaza

Strip, and a terror tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip, " a military statement

said, indicating it was a response after five rockets landed in Israel, none of

which caused any damage or injuries.

Palestinian security sources said the air strikes hit a training ground used by

Islamic Jihad militants near central Gaza and another training ground northeast

of Gaza which belonged to Hamas's armed wing, causing no casualties.

An earlier series of Israeli strikes overnight Tuesday had killed a Palestinian

and wounded about 20 others, as the military struck what it described as " global

jihad " targets who were planning cross-border attacks on southern Israel from

the Egyptian Sinai.

Late on Wednesday, a senior Israeli officer said the military was preparing for

a possible large-scale military campaign in Gaza if the Palestinians did not

halt their rocket attacks.

" We are preparing and ready for an additional campaign... to renew the

deterrence, " Tal Hermoni, commander of the Gaza division's southern brigade,

told reporters in remarks widely published in the Israeli press.

Israel's last major operation against Gaza was Operation Cast Lead, a 22-day

offensive launched on December 27, 2008 that cost the lives of 1,400

Palestinians -- at least half of them civilians -- and 13 Israelis, including 10

soldiers.

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