Rocket launchers in Gaza. Photot: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A high-ranking Israeli general warned Saturday that additional rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip toward Israel would be met with a “severe and painful response.”

The IDF warning came just one day after rocket fire from Gaza struck southern Israel amid ongoing regional tensions stemming from the US recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

“Don’t try to test our strength,” Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai posted on his official Facebook page.

The Israel Police stated Sunday that a rocket fired from Gaza last Friday struck a kindergarten in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. A second rocket landed in the middle of a street in the city, with a third being intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

The Salafi Islamic terror group Tawhid al-Jihad, which has in the past sought to overthrow Hamas’s rule in Gaza, later claimed responsibility for the rocket launches. Nevertheless, the IDF stated that it “holds Hamas responsible for the hostile activity perpetrated against Israel from the Gaza Strip.”