Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Israeli Jets Strike Hamas Sites after Gaza Rockets

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot

Israeli warplanes have struck Hamas movement positions in the Gaza Strip after rockets were fired on Friday from the territory towards Israel, shattering months of near-total calm.

The exchange came after Hamas warned that Israel's planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank amounted to a "declaration of war.”

Israeli jets struck ammunition and rocket "factories" in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said.

It added that the airstrikes “will impede" Hamas' future abilities.

Security sources in Gaza confirmed to AFP there were strikes in the area of Khan Yunis, at the southern tip of the Palestinian territory of two million inhabitants.

Two rockets were fired on Friday from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, the army said earlier.

"Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory," the Israeli military said in a statement, after saying "sirens sounded in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip."

Medics said the sirens sounded in the Israeli district of Sderot.

It was the first reported rocket fire from the Gaza Strip since early May.

Israel's proposal to annex its settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley form part of a broader US peace plan released in January.

The proposals foresee the ultimate creation of a Palestinian state on the remaining West Bank territory and the Gaza Strip.

But the plan falls far short of Palestinian aspirations, with a state on reduced territory and without east Jerusalem as its capital.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.