Israel Air Force Targets 29 Gaza Terror Sites After Dozens of Rockets Strike Israel (VIDEO)
by Algemeiner Staff
The Israeli Air Force responded rapidly to a massive rocket assault from Gaza by targeting 29 terror sites in the territory, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
“Direct hits were confirmed,” the IDF said.
The IDF provided detailed metrics on the rocket assault saying that “41 rockets struck in Israel, 5 hit populated areas and 3 were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.”
It was “the most substantial rocket attack from the Gaza Strip since Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012,” according to the statement.
On Israel’s response, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, IDF Spokesman, said, “This retaliation was precise and prompt. We targeted the infrastructure that serves the terrorists while they train, plan and implement their hideous attacks. They will not be permitted to conspire in the safety of their terrorist temples.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group claimed responsibility for the rockets.
“If there won’t be quiet in the south, there will be noise in Gaza, and this is an understatement,” the prime minister promised. “We will not be deterred from harming those who try to harm us, and we will continue to respond forcefully against terrorists in the Gaza Strip.”
Ya’alon said, “We will not let Islamic Jihad, or anybody else in Gaza, disrupt the life of Israel’s citizens. When it’s not quiet in southern Israel, it won’t be quiet in Gaza — so that the terrorists will regret their rocket fire.”
Earlier on Wednesday Israeli Army radio reported that IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz is rushing back to Israel from a work trip in the U.S. and that Israeli tanks fired at targets in the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, the IDF killed three Islamic Jihad operatives as they fired a mortar into Israel.
Watch a video of the events leading up to Tuesday’s strike below: