Israeli air raids hit Gaza after rocket fire

Israeli air raids have hit the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave that was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, officials said Wednesday.

There were no reports of injuries from both the rocket fire and the Israeli raids, which the military said targeted "four terror sites".

Witnesses and Palestinian security sources said four training camps for Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, were hit in the raids. They were empty at the time.

Three of the camps are located in Gaza City and the fourth in the north of the coastal enclave.

The rocket from Gaza was fired toward the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, according to the military.

Salafist militants claiming links to the Islamic State group have said they were behind recent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all such incidents.

Hamas is the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, which has been hit by three wars with Israel since 2008, including last summer's devastating conflict that left more than 100,000 homeless and killed more than 2,200.

A rocket fired last week from Gaza into southern Israel caused no damage or injuries.
Source: AFP