Following a rocket attack, Hamas fires at Israeli jets as the Israeli air force strikes the terror group.(watch videos)

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The armed wing Qassam Brigades confirms firing missiles at Israeli jets that targeted a rocket manufacturing centre and a tunnel during an overnight sortie, potentially inflaming tensions in Gaza.

Following a rocket attack, Hamas fires at Israeli jets as the Israeli air force strikes the terror group.(watch videos)
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Israeli warplanes launched retaliatory strikes against Hamas in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, and rocket alerts were activated near Israeli communities as the terror group claimed to have launched missiles at Israeli aircraft, in the latest tit-for-tat that threatened to plunge the region into another round of conflict.

The Israeli Defense Forces announced shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday that it was attacking Gaza in retaliation for a Saturday evening missile strike that had broken a month of relative calm. It said a central rocket-making facility used by Hamas was among the targets.

Shortly after, Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades armed wing said it had targeted the Israeli planes with anti-aircraft fire and surface-to-air missiles.

The IDF issued a rocket alert for open areas near the small farming communities of Shlomit and Bnei Betzarim, which are near the Egyptian border and opposite Gaza's Rafah.

There was no confirmation of an Israeli missile strike.

The Israeli sorties came just hours after a projectile launched from Gaza landed in an open field near Nahal Oz and Kfar Aza on Saturday evening. There have been no reports of injuries or property damage.




According to the military, fighter jets targeted a weapons workshop and tunnel used by Hamas, which de facto rules the Gaza Strip.

"The workshop is used as a primary site for the production of the majority of the group's rockets in the Strip," the IDF said in a statement.

"The strike overnight continues the progress to obstruct Hamas's force buildup," it added.

In retaliation for the anti-aircraft fire, the IDF later said it targeted a Hamas military post. It also released a video of the strikes.

According to Palestinian medical sources, there were no reports of injuries inside Gaza.

Gazans reported hearing several rounds of air strikes near Khan Younis and Rafah in the Strip's south on social media.

Several large explosions were seen in footage released by Palestinian media outlets.


The decision by Hamas to confront Israel may exacerbate tensions. During the most recent major flare-up in August, which saw Israel primarily fighting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, the terror group stayed on the sidelines.

Israel claims responsibility for all violence emanating from the Gaza Strip and generally responds to rocket fire with airstrikes against the group, regardless of who launched the attack.

There was no claim of responsibility for the rocket launch on Saturday night, which came after Israeli officials reportedly expressed concerns over the weekend about possible retaliation, including rocket fire from Gaza, in response to the deaths of two Palestinian Islamic Jihad members.

Both the PIJ and Hamas have threatened to retaliate for the deaths of the two men, who were killed during a military raid in the West Bank on Thursday.

In response to members being killed or arrested in the West Bank, the PIJ has launched rockets at Israel in the last year.

On November 3, rockets were fired from the coastal enclave toward Israel, apparently in response to the death of a PIJ member during a West Bank raid.

Agencies contributed to this report

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