The Israeli air force hit more than 140 military targets across 20 sites in Gaza. Target included a factory for manufacturing facilities, training complexes, a maritime tunnel shaft, and other sites.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said least 100150 rockets were launched from Gaza toward Israel, with rocket alarms ringing into the early hours of the morning. Twenty rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defense system, while most others landed in open fields in southern Israel.
The fighting Wednesday left three Palestinians dead in Gaza, including a mother and her young daughter, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with injuries reported in Israel and Gaza.
Escalation seems likely
Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren urged Israel to begin another operation in Gaza.
“It is inconceivable that Israeli citizens spend the night in reinforced rooms while Hamas commanders are walking freely,” Oren wrote on a tweet Thursday morning.
“I call for a return of Operation Protective Edge immediately!”
Sirens sounded in the Eshkol Regional Council pic.twitter.com/TL3jeWjqpj
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 9, 2018
A short while ago, IDF aircraft fired towards a rocket launching squad in Gaza after it launched a rocket at Israel
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 9, 2018
Additionally, five training camps were targeted as well as a main warehouse and a meeting point used by the senior commanders of the Khan Yunis Brigade. Thus far, over 140 of Hamas' strategic military sites have been targeted
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 9, 2018
Tonight, IDF fighter jets targeted over 20 terror sites in military compounds &in a Hamas training camp. Among the sites targeted were a weapons manufacturing &storage facility, a complex used for the Hamas' naval force, & a military compound used for rocket launching experiments
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 9, 2018
Summary until now:
🔺 Approx. 150 rockets launched from Gaza at Israel
🔺 Iron Dome intercepted 25 launches
🔺 We responded by targeting a cement factory used by Hamas to build terror tunnels, a maritime terror tunnel shaft, & several terror sites in military compounds— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 9, 2018