Israeli fighter jets and helicopters carry out airstrikes on what their army described as a ‘Hamas rocket manufacturing site and weapons post’.
The Israeli military says it carried out overnight attacks against Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket fire from a besieged Palestinian enclave.
A witness in Gaza told the AFP news agency that the Israeli military hit Hamas positions in the southern Strip just after 2:30 am (00:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
The Associated Press also reported an explosion over Gaza in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Israeli military said their fighter jets and attack helicopters hit the Hamas rocket manufacturing site and an arms post “in response to the rocket fired from Gaza into Israel tonight”.
According to Palestinian local news agency Maan, the site southwest of Gaza City was hit by five missiles. Another site east of Deir al-Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip was also targeted.
An Israeli military spokesman told AFP that a rocket from Gaza had hit an open field in southern Israel.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries by the rocket, the first firing from a Palestinian enclave since January, and no immediate claim for responsibility was made.
Gaza, with a population of over 2 million, is ruled by the Hamas movement but the fort remains under tight Israeli territory, air and navy. The UN called it an “outer prison”.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the past few years protesting against the embargo, which Israel has justified on security grounds.
Israeli attacks came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the city of Beersheba to try to garner support among the electorate as the country held its fourth election in less than two years.
According to exit polls, Netanyahu failed to deliver the majority needed to form a government.