Late on April 6th, Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip after a series of rockets were fired from Lebanon. The Israeli army confirmed it was currently conducting strikes in the Gaza Strip and three explosions were reportedly heard in the area at 11:15 pm. According to a Palestinian security source, the air strikes targeted several Hamas training sites. More strikes followed half an hour later, and aircraft sounds were audible.
The air strikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Jerusalem’s enemies would pay the price for the barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon. The Jewish holiday of Passover saw the largest escalation of violence since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah when 34 rockets were fired at Israel. The Israeli army blamed Palestinian groups for the rocket attacks and confirmed that it had identified 34 rockets fired from Lebanese territory into Israel. Out of those, 25 were intercepted, and five landed in Israeli territory. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Israeli army spokesperson Lt. Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters that ‘We know for sure it’s Palestinian fire. It could be Hamas, it could be Islamic Jihad, we are still trying to finalize but it wasn’t Hezbollah.’ He added that they were also investigating whether Iran was involved, and that Hezbollah knew about the attack, while Lebanon also had some responsibility.
In response to the rocket attack, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati rejected any escalation from his country and stated that they rejected the use of their territory to destabilize the situation.
Post Your Comments