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Palestinian security officers survey damage done by an Israeli air strike on a Hamas target in Gaza on August 22, 2016. Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters. Published by Haaretz

A policeman carries part of a rocket launched from Gaza, landing next to a residential building in Sderot, Israel, August 21, 2016. Credit: Amir Cohen, Reuters. Published by Haaretz
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by Gili Cohen and Jack Khoury for Haaretz
Aug 22, 2016 9:49 AM
 
Dozens of Israeli air and artillery strikes hit the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday and early Monday, reportedly wounding five Palestinians, after a rocket fired from the coastal territory struck between two houses in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.

A senior IDF official said the army largely targeted what they described as Hamas "infrastructure", in an attack they called "rare" in comparison to IDF actions since a Gaza war of two year ago.

"The attacks were out of the ordinary, but there is no intention to escalate the situation," the army official told Haaretz.

Reuters reported that multiple air strikes hit at least 30 sites in Gaza belonging to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said though that "Israel's escalation is an attempt to create a new equation in the Gaza Strip. Israel's aggression won't break the will of the Palestinian people."

There were no casualties from the rocket in Sderot, which shook up a town that has been mostly calm since a 2014 ceasefire after a summertime Gaza war.  

An organization in Gaza called Ahfad al-Sahaba-Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis, affiliated with Salafist groups that identify with ISIS, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. The group has been known to fire rockets in the past as a challenge to Hamas, the Islamist organization that governs in Gaza.

Israel responded with airstrikes and tank fire. The IDF said the air force struck "a number" of Hamas targets, while Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that an Israeli tank fired six shells at a water storage facility.

Palestinian media reported that Israel had targeted sites affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another group armed with projectiles in the Gaza Strip.

The rocket strike in Sderot on Sunday afternoon caused no injury but a bit of panic in a town not far from Gaza that has been a frequent target of rocket fire in the past, though calm had largely prevailed since a ceasefire that ended a war with Gaza two years ago.

"There was a kind of noise of a strange screech and a boom," Shmaryahu Nagar, who lives near where the projectile slammed into the ground,  told Haaretz of the attack.

Nagar said the projectile struck next to the home of neighbors who weren't home at the time.  He and his son ducked into their reinforced concrete safe room to take cover when a warning siren wailed in the town.

Last month, a rocket fired from Gaza struck a daycare center in Sderot, also damaging surrounding buildings, but causing no casualties.
The Israel Air Force at the time hit what the Israeli army said were four Hamas targets in southern and central Gaza.
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an ) -- The Israeli army fired missiles into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun on Sunday afternoon and evening, injuring at least five Palestinians, after a rocket fired from Gaza fell inside the southern Israeli city of Sderot, with no injuries or damage reported by the Israeli army.

Reports of an air raid over Beit Hanoun emerged at around 10:30 p.m, with shelling from Israeli army planes reportedly injuring two Palestinians, although there were no immediate details on the severity of their wounds. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that they could not immediately elaborate on the report.

Earlier in the day, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip Ashraf al-Qidra announced that a young Palestinian man in his twenties was injured as a result of an Israeli artillery shelling targeting a military training ground in Beit Hanoun near the Erez crossing.

Local sources later told Ma'an that two other Palestinians were also injured, though the details remained unclear.

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed in a statement that both the Israeli air force and artillery tanks targeted two alleged Hamas posts in northern Gaza on Sunday afternoon.

An Israel air force plane was used to strike the first target, while an Israel army tank was used to attack the second, according to the Israeli army.
Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that a rocket fired by an Israeli drone hit a water reservoir and another shell landed in an open area in Beit Hanoun.

The missiles were fired minutes after it was confirmed by the Israeli army that a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip and hit the city of Sderot.
The Hamas-affiliated news site the Palestinian Information Center later reported that a "Palestinian citizen was injured in the face" by shrapnel of an artillery shell.

The report quoted local sources as saying that Israeli tanks fired three shells at an agricultural land in the al-Masriyyin neighborhood in Beit Hanoun. Furthermore, the report said Israeli artillery shells landed in the Filistin training ground which Hamas fighters use for military training.
No group had yet claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.

Rocket sirens were sounded in Sderot and nearby communities bordering the Gaza Strip at 2:25 p.m. Israeli police later arrived to the scene where the rocket landed and closed off the area, an Israeli police spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the Israeli army, 14 rockets have been fired into Israel in 2016.

Most recently, on July 1, Israeli forces launched airstrikes at several sites allegedly used by Palestinian political factions in the besieged coastal enclave in response to a rocket fire that landed in Sderot.

In May, a Palestinian woman was killed during several consecutive days of sustained airstrikes and tank shelling from Israeli forces, allegedly in response to cross-border mortar shelling and a rocket being fired from the Gaza Strip.
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Risking Escalation in Gaza Strip, Israel Sends Hamas a Strong Message

The apparent escalation in the army's response to missiles from Gaza reflects the underlying policy of Defense Minister Lieberman.

by Amos Harel for Haaretz

On Sunday night, at around 10:15 P.M., Israel made what was probably its first stab at changing the rules of the game in the Gaza Strip.

Since Israel's Operation Protective Edge two years ago, matters had been ambling along more or less along familiar lines, with eruptions of tension breaking out on the border every few months. Then on Sunday, some Palestinian organization, apparently one of the smaller factions that does not comply with Hamas, fired a rocket at the southern town of Sderot, causing some damage but no casualties.

The Israel Defense Forces reacted with tank fire and sent a drone to hit Hamas targets, near Beit Hanun, a town near Gaza’s northeastern border.
Israel's response, aimed at Hamas outposts and observation positions near the border, was no different than usual. And there were no casualties. The reaction had two aims: to clarify that Israel views the Hamas government in the Strip as responsible for maintaining quiet along the border, and to exact a tactical price from the Islamist organization – impairing its ability to collect intelligence about Israeli army movements in that area for the benefit of its military arm.

This is more or less how Israel has retaliated in the past when Palestinian organizations shot a missile at the northern Negev.

But then late last night came more attacks by the Israel Air Force, broader in scope. This time, Hamas targets in the northern Strip were hit. According to initial reports from Gaza, the bombardments caused more damage than usual and echoed throughout the area.

It is still too early say how Hamas will react to Israel’s deliberate escalation. But for the nonce the sides, however much they loathe one another, share an interest: to keep the border quiescent.

The change in the manner of Israel’s retaliation apparently has to do with the new defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman. Before assuming the post, Lieberman urged the use of tough measures against the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Afterward, Lieberman somewhat scaled back his public rhetoric but reiterated his basic position, which is that the government in the Strip should be toppled and if matters deteriorate to the point of a broad military confrontation – Israel should take action to achieve that end.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has also commented recently that he would not accept even the odd rocket attack. However, as he made clear throughout Operation Protective Edge as well, the premier sees no point in launching a broad IDF operation. He doesn’t want to get embroiled in yet another Gaza war. Lieberman, on the other hand, seems to want to send Hamas a more biting message, even if it involves a risk of escalation.

What Israel is up to will become clearer in the days to come, but much depends on the system of checks and balances between the prime minister, the defense minister and the chief of staff.

The main, missing factor in the equation, from Israel’s point of view, is how decisions are made within Hamas. For some time now, the organization's political arm, led by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and its military arm have had separate, almost contradictory agendas.

While the politicians are looking for ways to appease Egypt and ensure that the Gulf states will keep paying the salaries of Gaza’s civil servants, the terrorists’ purposes are something else entirely. Hamas’ military leaders would rather renew relations with Tehran and maintain a semblance of deterrence against Israel while preparing for the next war.

Since Israeli intelligence had difficulties understanding Hamas’ intentions in real-time during the last war, in 2014, the prevailing assessments should be treated with caution too. Meanwhile, it is now permissible to reveal that roadside bombs that Hezbollah smuggled into Israel from Lebanon were hidden last month in the northern city of Metula.

Recent events on both borders, in the south with Gaza and the north with Lebanon, serve as a reminder that even during periods of relative quiet – and the summer of 2016 is one of the quietest we’ve known in a decade – the situation is extremely fluid. The outcome depends to a large degree on the wisdom and discretion that Israel's leadership demonstrates.

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