Israel strikes Gaza military posts in response to rockets firing

GAZA/JERUSALEM -- Israel carried out airstrikes on Tuesday night on the posts that belong to Palestinian militant groups led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

Palestinian security officials in Gaza said that Israeli reconnaissance drones and fighter jets hovered over the coastal enclave, ruled by Hamas, and then several explosions were heard in the northern and central Gaza Strip and western Gaza City.

An Israeli military spokesman said in a press statement that the Israeli air forces began to strike on militants' posts in the Gaza Strip in response to the earlier rocket attacks from the enclave at southern Israel.

No injuries were reported following the Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, the security officials said.

On Tuesday, Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), claimed responsibility for firing 37 rockets and projectiles at southern Israel.

Israeli media reported that at least nine people, including a Chinese worker, were injured after one of the rockets targeted a building in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. One of the injuries was in critical condition.

The Israeli military said in an earlier statement that at least 40 rockets were fired from Gaza throughout the day and continued during the night. In response to the rockets, Israeli tanks fired artillery into Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the country's top security officials held a special situation assessment meeting, where possible military responses to the rockets were discussed.

The firing of rockets came in response to the death of Khader Adnan, a senior PIJ member who died in Israeli custody after he went on a hunger strike for 86 days.

Adnan's death in Israeli prison has raised the tensions between Israelis and Palestinians which have been flaring up since early January.

The Palestinians said that since early January, around 100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while Israel said that 19 Israelis have been killed in a series of attacks carried out by Palestinians.