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Israeli army confirms airstrike at Gaza targets

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-22 21:42

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army has confirmed that its fighter jets struck three targets in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip early Sunday morning.

Palestinians inspect the ruins caused by Israeli airstrikes on tunnels in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip bordering Egypt Nov. 22, 2009. [Xinhua]

During the attacks, "two weapons-manufacturing facilities in the northern and central Gaza Strip and one smuggling tunnel in Gaza's Rafah border area" adjoining Egypt were hit, said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a statement.

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Palestinian witnesses and medical sources said that at least 10people were wounded in the airstrike, which the IDF said was launched "in response to the firing of a Qassam rocket at the city of Sderot on Saturday morning."

The latest rocket fire from Gaza caused no casualty or damage, and no militant group in the Palestinian enclave has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shortly before Saturday's firing, Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad announced that the group had reached an agreement with other armed organizations to halt rocket attacks at Israel for the time being in order to avoid Israel's retaliation.

Last winter, Israel conducted a large-scale offensive in Gaza, killing over 1,300 Palestinians and destroying thousands of houses and public facilities. Thirteen Israelis died during the operation, which Israel said was launched in response to eight years of rocket attacks at its southern land and meant to put an end to the hostile fire.

Statistics provided by the IDF in Sunday' s statement showed that since the Gaza operation, the number of rocket attacks has decreased dramatically.

Yet while accusing Palestinian militants of attempting to rebuild their arsenal by smuggling weapons into Gaza through underground tunnels at the Gaza-Sinai border, Israel has frequently carried out air raids at the area and meanwhile urged Egypt and the international community to curb Gaza-bound weaponry flow.