The Israel army has deployed two infantry and armored divisions to southern Israel, and has begun a limited call for reservists in the intelligence and air defense corps, following rocket fire on central Israel Monday morning, a military spokesman said.
Brigadier General Ronen Manelis alleges that a rocket was fired from Hamas operatives, from a military post in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and had a range of 120 kilometers.
Though default Hamas rockets are little more than hollow tubes stuffed with dynamite, and not equipped with guidance systems, Israeli forces claimed, on Twitter, that a homemade rocket traveled 75 miles, destroying a house in Tel Aviv.
(Video courtesy Ma’an News Agency.)
These developments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would respond strongly to rockets that were fired from Gaza, PNN reports.
According to Israeli media Netanyahu “spoke to the IOF Chief of Staff, head of the Shin Bet and head of Intelligence and that he sees this as a criminal act against the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu said : ”We will respond forcefully,” adding that he will return to Israel almost immediately, following rocket fire that hit the Sharon region Monday morning.
Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump on Monday and boarded a plane to Israel.
Islamic Jihad leader Ziad NaKhaleh said, on Monday morning, in a press statement: ”We warn the enemy against any aggression on the Gaza Strip. Its leaders must understand that.”
There are reports, in Gaza, that the offices of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh have been hit. The Israeli army confirmed the attack.
A Hamas official, who asked not to be named, told AFP , “No one from the resistance movements, including Hamas, has an interest in firing rockets from the Gaza Strip towards the enemy.”
He added that the same message had been conveyed to Egypt, who intervened to broker a ceasefire and prevent Israel from launching another war on Gaza, after tensions escalated last year.
Only a few hours after Hamas denied that it had launched a rocket toward Tel Aviv, the Israeli military began striking the besieged Palestinian territory.
03/36/29 Israeli Airstrikes Injure 8 Palestinians, Including Two Children In Gaza
