IDF Confirms Strike on Hamas Post in Gaza After Rocket Fire

The Israeli military said tanks struck a Hamas observation post in the Gaza Strip Tuesday, in response to the launch of a single rocket from the enclave into southern Israel.

The Israeli army said the rocket landed in an open area, with no casualties or damage reported.

On Monday, the Israeli military said it struck several Hamas targets in Gaza after two rockets fired from the enclave toward the maritime area of Ashdod fell into the Mediterranean Sea.

This follows cross-border fire between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday in two separate incidents, marking the first escalation on the border in 2021.

An Israeli tank shelled Hamas positions in Gaza after shots were fired at an Israeli military engineering vehicle. Hamas later fired at another vehicle, according to the army, which in response hit two more Hamas positions on the Gaza border fence.

In late December, Palestinian militant groups launched rockets into the Mediterranean Sea off the Gaza Strip in what they called their first-ever joint exercise, which Israeli media described as a show of force organized by Iran.

The exercise was announced on behalf of a joint command set up by the groups in 2018, and aimed to recreate different scenarios and test their preparedness for any future confrontation with Israel.

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A few days earlier, the army said it hit a Hamas military post, a factory that produces rockets, and underground infrastructure, after rockets were fired from Gaza.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a prisoner exchange deal were reported in December, which would allow humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave.