Gaza terror groups vow 'bombing in response to bombing'
Hamas, Islamic Jihad release joint statement threatening to respond to any 'Zionist aggression' against Gaza; for the second time within several hours on Wednesday, IAF aircraft shoots near Palestinians preparing and launching incendiary and explosive balloons and kites; no reports of injuries among Palestinians.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad's military wings claimed responsibility Wednesday afternoon for attacking seven Israeli posts overnight in response to "the ongoing Zionist aggression."
"We stress the equation of 'bombing in response to bombing,' and we will not allow the enemy to force aggressive equations against our people and the resistance," a joint press release from the two terror groups said.
"The Israeli leadership bears full responsibility to any aggression and will pay the price for that. All attempts to break the popular Palestinian protest will not succeed," the statement continued.
"Our preparedness and our quick and coordinated response are proof that we are doing what we say we would," Hamas and Islamic Jihad concluded.
The IDF fired warning shots next to cells launching incendiary balloons in the southern Gaza Strip on two occasions Wednesday afternoon. There were no reports of injuries among the Palestinians.
An explosive balloon landed on a trampoline in the back yard of a house in the Eshkol Regional Council. Police sappers were called to the scene to neutralize it.
Meanwhile, firefighters have battled six fires on the Gaza border on Wednesday caused by incendiary balloons.
About 45 rockets and mortar shells were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight Tuesday, some landing inside Gaza border communities.
Seven rockets and mortars shells were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, and at least three landed within the strip.
There were no reports of injuries, but damage was sustained. One mortar shell landed on a pathway near a nursery in the Eshkol Regional Council.
Numerous sirens were sounded in the Gaza border area throughout the night.
The IDF defined Tuesday night's barrage as “a serious rocket offensive against Israel’s home front,” saying that “Hamas is leading the Gaza Strip and its residents to deterioration and escalation.”
The escalation occurred on the backdrop of the “kite terrorism” and the incendiary and explosive balloons dispatched from the strip, which have sparked huge fires in the Gaza border area. In response, the IDF attacked three targets in the southern strip shortly after midnight Tuesday, and Hamas retaliated with the rocket fire.
According to an IDF statement, the Air Force struck a total of 25 Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip in three waves. Eleven targets were attacked in the last wave “in four military compounds of the Hamas terror organization, including an underground training facility.”
