Two injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza following rocket fire

Two people were injured on Sunday morning when Israeli planes and helicopters bombed a position belonging to Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, near the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza city.

Israeli Apache helicopters also hit several other locations belonging to Hamas north and west of Gaza city, the first such move in several years.

Read also: Israel’s profitable occupation and the billion dollar cost to Palestine

Rockets were reportedly launched at the Israeli aircraft but failed to hit the target.

The Israeli army said in a statement that among the targets was a camp containing military storehouses and offices, as well as a base belonging to Hamas naval forces.

On Saturday evening three rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, however they were intercepted by the “Iron Dome” defence system, according to the Israeli army.

On 29 November, Israeli warplanes struck Hamas positions in Gaza in response to rocket fire the previous day.

Israel holds Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, responsible for all rocket fire coming from the territory, although it has previously targeted other Palestinian armed groups in the area.

Last month, Israeli forces assassinated a senior Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip, sparking a two-day flare-up which killed 36 Palestinians.

Israel has fought three wars with Hamas and allied armed groups in Gaza since 2008.

At least 348 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since March 2018 - more than half of which were killed during demonstrations.

Others have been killed in airstrikes or by tank fire.

Palestinians are demanding that Israel ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip and that Palestinians be allowed to return to their ancestral homes, from which Israel expelled their families in 1948.