Gaza rocket fire draws Israeli retaliation

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired seven rockets into Israel on Monday, causing no casualties but drawing retaliatory fire from the Israeli military. A road in a residential neighbourhood of the southern town of Sderot was slightly damaged, Israeli police said. Gaza security sources said Israeli aircraft retaliated with strikes on open ground near the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip and against a base of the Hamas military wing in the city of Khan Yunis further south. Israel holds Gaza's Hamas rulers responsible for all rocket fire from the territory regardless of who launches it. The Israeli navy also fired at the Khan Yunis base, the sources said, adding that altogether two people were wounded. An Israeli military statement said aircraft attacked "two terror activity sites in the southern Gaza Strip and a third site in the central Gaza Strip, in response to the latest severe aggression emanating from Gaza. Direct hits were confirmed." It made no mention of naval action. "We shall continue to act forcefully against our enemies," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his official Twitter account. "Today, the Israel Defence Forces attacked in the Gaza Strip those who sought to harm the citizens of Israel and disturb the calm of the holiday." The attacks came during a public holiday in Israel marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Passover. A Palestinian security source said Hamas evacuated its bases for fear of further air raids. An Israeli army statement said that prior to the rocket barrage, militants fired an anti-tank missile at an army patrol on the border fence but caused no casualties. Source: AFP