Israel carries out airstrikes on Hamas targets in response to rocket fire

The Israeli air force struck facilities of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired and several explosive-laden balloons were launched from the Palestinian enclave, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday.

Tel Aviv [Israel], Jan 30 (Sputnik/ANI): The Israeli air force struck facilities of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired and several explosive-laden balloons were launched from the Palestinian enclave, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday. "Earlier tonight, a rocket & explosive balloons were launched from #Gaza into #Israel. In response, IDF aircraft just struck Hamas targets in Gaza, including a weapons manufacturing site & underground infrastructure," the IDF wrote on its Twitter page.

Further details of the incident remain unknown. Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni militant organisation in control of the Gaza Strip, has been locked in a protracted on-and-off conflict with Israel, which still refuses to recognise Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity. Israel holds Hamas responsible for any attack coming from the Gaza Strip. (Sputnik/ANI)