Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 12, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Suhaib Salem.

JNS.org – Israeli jets struck Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning after several several projectiles were fired from the coastal territory at southern Israel overnight.

The shells were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, according to the Israeli military.

Palestinian media reported that several people were lightly injured in the strikes, which according to the Israel Defense Forces targeted Hamas weapon production sites in northern Gaza.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu-Rukun later declared that in response to the rocket fire, the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast will be restricted from 14 to 10 nautical miles.

The IDF posted on Twitter that Israel holds Hamas responsible for “all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip and emanating from it.”

On Wednesday evening, the IDF reported that an armed terrorist approaching the border in the southern Gaza Strip, near Khan Younis, had been killed.

This latest round of rocket-fire comes two weeks after a significant flare-up on the southern border, following Israel’s assassination in November of senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Baha Abu al-Ata.