The Israeli military carried out extensive air strikes in the Gaza Strip Friday night, striking around 80 terror targets in the enclave, after a night in which around 30 rockets were launched across the border, sending thousands of Israelis into shelters.
The rocket barrages were launched between approximately 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., leading warning sirens to sound throughout Israeli communities multiple times throughout the night. There followed about 3 hours of quiet until 6 a.m., when sirens were once again activated by an apparent launch.
Shortly after 8:00 a.m. additional warning sirens were heard in the Sha’ar Hanegev and Sdot Nnegev regional councils. The IDF said one rocket had been launched from Gaza that was shot down by Iron Dome interceptors.
The Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepted 10 of the nighttime rockets, while two fell inside Gaza and the rest hit open fields and were thus not targeted by the system.
There were no reports of direct Israeli casualties or damage. However, seven people were treated by medics for anxiety attacks. Two people were said lightly hurt while running to bomb shelters.
In response, air force jets and helicopters bombarded various Hamas targets in the Strip, including two weapons-production facilities, five military sites, a training facility, a tunnel shaft and an observation post.
The Israel Defense Forces later said aircraft also struck a four-story building in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood used as the headquarters of Hamas’ General Security Services.
It said the building’s tenants received several warnings ahead of the strike to clear the premises.
WATCH: We just struck Hamas' General Security Services‘ HQ in #Gazain response to rockets fired at #Israel. We warned the building's occupants to evacuate several times prior to the strike. pic.twitter.com/Eb5nz80i4f
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 27, 2018
The IDF said in a statement Saturday morning it “views with great severity the rocket attack tonight against Israeli communities.” It blamed Hamas for creating “a terror-enabling atmosphere…near the border fence which led terror groups in the Strip to carry out tonight’s attack.”
US Special Representative for International Negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, tweeted support for Israel overnight, saying: “More rockets from Gaza into Israel. Another night where parents are ushering terrified children to cover.”
More rockets from Gaza into Israel. Another night where parents are ushering terrified children to cover. Violence will not build futures for anyone. Our plan, when released, will offer a path that doesn’t involve fear of rockets, but brighter futures for all in the region.
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) October 26, 2018
Meanwhile IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot held a security assessment at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv with senior officials from the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency.
In response to the rocket barrages, the IDF’s Home Front Command overnight issued instructions restricting gatherings in the Gaza periphery: up to 100 people in open areas and 500 people in closed spaces.
The rocket fire comes amid a deadly flareup in violence in the Gaza Strip. Earlier on Friday, thousands of Palestinians gathered at five locations along the border, burning tires and throwing rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops who responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.
Islamic Jihad on Saturday took responsibility for the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip overnight and threatened further launches, as the Israeli military accused the Palestinian terror group of carrying out the attacks on behalf of Iran and Syria.
Though the Israel Defense Forces did not accuse Hamas of taking part in the rocket fire, it reiterated that it considers the terror group responsible as Gaza’s rulers.
“We also view the regime in Syria and the Iranian Quds Force as the address for the incidents,” IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said, referring to the overseas branch of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“We sent clear messages in this spirit to those who need it and no one is immune, neither in the Strip or outside it,” he added.
BREAKING: The Assad regime & Iranian Quds Force are behind the Islamic Jihad rocket attack on #Israel. Hamas is responsible for everything transpiring in #Gaza & emanates from it & will bear the consequences for the terror it seeks to inflict upon Israeli civilians. pic.twitter.com/gr8iVIzCwh
In response to the attacks, the IDF said fighter jets and attack helicopters struck 87 targets in the Strip, including two weapons-production facilities, five military sites, a training facility, a tunnel shaft and an observation post.
The Israel Defense Forces later said aircraft also struck a four-story building in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood used as the headquarters of Hamas’ General Security Services.
It said the building’s tenants received several warnings ahead of the strike to clear the premises.
Islamic Jihad announced Saturday it had agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire to end an escalating exchange of fire with Israel, as Israeli jets struck sites in the Gaza Strip belonging to the Palestinian terror organization.
A spokesman for the group told the Gaza-based Safa news site that a ceasefire agreement went into effect following Egyptian communication with its leadership.
He said Islamic Jihad would remain committed to the ceasefire as long as Israel did likewise.
There was no immediate acknowledgement of the ceasefire declaration in Israel, which in the past has denied proclamations by Gaza-based terror groups regarding understandings to end fighting.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman was meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and other top security officials at the time of the announcement.
The declaration by Islamic Jihad to end the rocket fire came as the Israel Defense Forces said fighter jets struck eight targets tied to the Iran-backed terror group in three separate military facilities after Israel was hit by salvos of rockets from Gaza overnight and on Saturday morning.
The Gaza targets included weapons production sites and a factory that makes parts for subterranean tunnels, the army said, adding that the later was near a school.
Hamas rockets fired at Israel Friday night were "directed from Damascus and the Iranian Quds Force," IDF Spokesperson Ronen Manelis said during a press conference Saturday morning.
“We have delivered clear messages of this fact to the relevant parties,” he said, adding that, in the IDF’s response, “no one is immune, not in the Gaza Strip nor outside of it."
“We have delivered clear messages of this fact to the relevant parties,” he said, adding that, in the IDF’s response, “no one is immune, not in the Gaza Strip nor outside of it."
He also warned that the IDF is ready for a "scenario in which we will expand our strikes."
Manelis said that Israel had hoped that the situation in the Gaza Strip will change following the decision by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to allow Qatar-bought petrol into Gaza.
Islamic Jihad fired 34 rockets at Israel, he said, out of which 13 were intercepted by Iron Dome.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Friday night rocket attack on southern Israel, announcing on Saturday morning that "we can not stand with our hands tied."
Manelis said that Israel had hoped that the situation in the Gaza Strip will change following the decision by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to allow Qatar-bought petrol into Gaza.
Islamic Jihad fired 34 rockets at Israel, he said, out of which 13 were intercepted by Iron Dome.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Friday night rocket attack on southern Israel, announcing on Saturday morning that "we can not stand with our hands tied."
Manelis said that the IDF expects Hamas to maintain control over events in the Gaza Strip.
"Islamic Jihad did not wait to get a green light from Hamas to fire rockets," he said. However, he added that "once [Hamas] allow violence near the security fence, they can't be surprised other factions fire [rockets]."
Some 16,000 protesters participated in Friday’s March of Return protests, in which four Palestinians were killed by IDF sniper fire and 85 were injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported.
Protesters burned tires and threw explosive devices, hand grenades and Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers. The IDF responded with protest dispersal methods.
Some 16,000 protesters participated in Friday’s March of Return protests, in which four Palestinians were killed by IDF sniper fire and 85 were injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported.
Protesters burned tires and threw explosive devices, hand grenades and Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers. The IDF responded with protest dispersal methods.
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