TEL AVIV: On Wednesday over 75 rockets were fired into southern Israel. Hamas, the militant Islamist faction that governs the Gaza Strip, has issued several military communiqués claiming a commitment to armed resistance against Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claims that the Iron Dome, a military defense system established in 2011 to intercept short range rockets and shells, shot down at least one rocket thus far. According to the IDF spokesperson, the Israeli Air Force executed at least six successful strikes on Hamas military locations in the northern Gaza Strip. At 7:10 pm, the IDF website published that the Israeli Air Force attacked “two terror sites in the northern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were confirmed." “The targeting is in response to over 75 rockets that were fired at Israel during the past three days, threatening the life of over one million Israeli civilians living in the region," the IDF spokesperson wrote. Hamas stated that the rocket attacks were a response to a series of Israeli airstrikes that took place over the last three days. Israel proclaimed that the airstrikes were the result of a terrorist operation on the Israel-Sinai border that killed an Israeli citizen. Several other Gaza-based organizations have declared their responsibility for a portion of the rockets landing in southern Israel. According to Ma'an News Agency, the Al-Mujahadin Brigades, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the Shuhada al-Aqsa Karama Army, the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, and the al-Ansar Brigades each issued statements proclaiming their involvement in rocket attacks. This occurrence marks the first major violent exchange between Gazan militants and Israel since March, when over 200 rockets were shot into various Israeli cities within striking range of the Gaza Strip—Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Beersheba, among others. In the past, Hamas has rarely made distinctions between attacks on military targets and attacks on civilians. However, on the website of Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, a communique stated that only Israeli military sites were being targeted. Thus far no Israeli casualties have been reported. At least 17 Palestinians have been wounded, and Gaza's Ministry of Health stated that eight Gazans have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and tank shelling. At least two of the 17 killed were children. Egypt, a regular channel between Gazan militants and Israel, is expected to mediate another ceasefire. Hamas has announced its willingness to sign onto an Egyptian-brokered truce.
