Palestinian Islamists fired a Kassam rocket from the Gaza Strip toward Israel’s southern communities. The rocket exploded in an open area of the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, causing no injuries or damage. Despite the fact that the rocket was apparently fired by one of the Salafist organizations in the Gaza Strip, the IDF responded with a massive series of strikes, all of which were aimed against targets belonging to the military wing of Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli military’s spokesperson’s unit released a statement in which it emphasized that “The IDF views the Hamas terror organization as solely responsible for what happens in the Gaza Strip, and will not tolerate any attempt to harm the security of the State of Israel and its residents.” A high-ranking official told TV7 that the unproportionate response to the rocket fire was a clear message Israel conveyed to the Islamist Hamas organization, in which it would not agree to any violation of the cease-fire agreement, even if the violation was carried out by a rogue organization. That said, the Israeli official emphasized that Israel was not interested in an escalation with Hamas.