Israeli warplanes attack northern Gaza strip after rocket fire

According to France24, Israeli claimed the airstrike targeted a weapons factory run by the Palestinian militant group controlling the strip, Hamas.

There were no immediate reports of injuries in the overnight rocket attack or the air strike that followed

According to Palestinian media sources, fires engulfed the area hit by the airstrikes in Gaza. Firefighters were scrambled to tackle the flames.

An Israeli military spokesman announced that the Iron Dome missile defence system had intercepted a missile launched from northern Gaza overnight.

Air raid sirens were heard in the Gaza envelope, the region of Israel surrounding the strip. 

Israel often deploys the harsh measure following tension in the strip, sometime restricting boats to fish up to six miles offshore or banning fishing altogether.

In response to the latest rocket fire, Israeli authorities have announced a punitive reduction in the fishing zone off Gaza.

COGAT, a unit of Israel’s defence ministry, announced that the fishing zone had been reduced "to 10 nautical miles" until further notice.

Read more: Israel closes Gaza fishing zone over ‘fire balloons’

On Tuesday a young Palestinian from Khan Younis, Abdullah Abu Naser,  was killed in a targeted airstrike as he approached the Israeli border fence in Gaza.

No body has been retrieved from the no-go area adjacent to the frontier. Nasser’s father has called on human rights organisations to aid him in the search for his son's body.

Israeli forces last month assassinated a senior commander in Islamic Jihad, the militant group which vying with Hamas for control of the strip. The two-day flare up resulted in the deaths of at least 34 Palestinians.

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