Palestinian Islamists continued firing rockets over the weekend from the Gaza Strip toward Israel’s southern communities. Three rockets were fired last night in two separate barrages. Two of the rockets exploded in an open area in an Israeli kibbutz in the Eshkol regional council, while the third rocket exploded in a residential home in a village located in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. Police revealed that Israeli residents narrowly escaped injury after making their way to bomb shelters seconds before the rockets exploded. In response to the Palestinian rocket fire, the Israel Air Force attacked militant installations belonging to the Islamist Hamas organization in the northern Gaza Strip, reiterating its position in a statement, in which it views Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave, as solely responsible for any attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip and will respond with force to any threat directed at Israel’s citizens or sovereignty.
The Palestinians have fired rockets at Israel nearly every evening ever since US President Donald Trump made his declaration about US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel ten days ago. The previous rocket was fired on Friday, but it hit a residential building in the Palestinian city of Beit Hanoun, which is located in the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, causing extensive damage. While senior Israeli Defense officials told TV7 that Israel is seeking to alleviate the situation on its Gaza frontier, the officials warned that the Islamist organizations in the Palestinian enclave would bear full responsibility for any conflagration, which could lead to a full-scale military operation in Gaza – unless the Palestinians immediately halt the ongoing rocket-fire directed toward the Jewish state.