Israeli planes hit Gaza in response to rocket strikes
Source: BBC
Israeli warplanes have attacked 29 Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip in response to an Islamic Jihad rocket barrage into Israel earlier on Wednesday, the military has said. Palestinian eyewitnesses and journalists said that warplanes hit bases of the Hamas rulers and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. Israel is also reported to have closed border crossings with the Gaza Strip.
Militants fired more than 30 rockets into southern Israel, officials say. Islamic Jihad said it fired the rockets in retaliation for Tuesday's killing of three of its militants in an earlier Israeli air strike.
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"Our mujahideen (Hamas) responded to the Zionist aggression by firing tens of rockets," it said. Speaking to the BBC, the group's spokesman added: "The rockets fired today came in response to the occupation aggression against us and does not mean the collapse of the ceasefire agreement [with Israel]."
A statement by the al-Quds Brigades (Islamic Jihad military wing) said the barrage was its "initial response" to the "crimes of the Zionist enemy in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip", the latest of which was the "assassination" of three of its members on Tuesday.
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Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad and other groups have sporadically fired rockets and mortars at Israel since the 2012 conflict ended, while the Hamas movement that governs Gaza has refrained from doing so.However, an Israeli military statement said it held Hamas "responsible for all attacks emanating" from the coastal territory.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26555742
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