Israel and Gaza Shoot Each Other With Rockets After Election Will US Democracy Die Next Tuesday?

After rocket fire from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, the Israeli army said it responded with airstrikes early Friday morning. The target was an underground facility used by Islamist Hamas to make rockets in the center of the Gaza Strip, the armed forces said on Twitter. There were initially no reports of injuries.

The Israeli army said rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel for the first time in nearly three months on Thursday. The Iron Dome defense system was activated and a missile was intercepted, it said. Within the coastal strip, three have already exploded. Sirens were heard in several towns in southern Israel.

The attack came two days after Israel’s parliamentary election, in which right-wing opposition leader and ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged victorious.

On Thursday, a leading member of the Al-Quds Brigades – the military arm of Islamic Jihad – was killed during an Israeli army operation in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian organization is mainly active in the Gaza Strip. According to local reports from the Gaza Strip, she would be responsible for the rocket attacks on the border area.

The Israeli army launched a large-scale military operation against Islamic Jihad in early August. The militant Palestinians then fired more than 1,000 rockets at Israeli cities, according to the military. After three days of fighting, a ceasefire was agreed.

(yam/sda/dpa)