Kaamil Ahmed
14 December 2015•Update: 14 December 2015
JERUSALEM
Israeli warplanes struck Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip late Sunday night in response to rockets fired from the blockaded territory, according to an Israeli military spokesman.
Warplanes targeted two positions associated with the resistance group, which has governed the Palestinian enclave since 2007, military spokesman Peter Lerner tweeted.
Lerner had earlier tweeted that a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip had landed in southern Israel without causing casualties.
Most rockets fired by Gaza-based resistance groups are intercepted by Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defense system.
Although Israeli officials concede that Hamas is not responsible for firing the rockets, Israel nevertheless holds the group responsible for all rocket fire emanating from the Gaza Strip and routinely retaliates by striking alleged Hamas positions.
In October, an Israeli airstrike on an alleged Hamas weapons factory killed a Palestinian woman and her child when their nearby home collapsed from the impact.
In a recent upsurge of violence, more than 120 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since Oct. 1, 19 of whom were killed in the Gaza Strip, which continues to groan under a years-long embargo imposed by Israel and Egypt.
