by Reuters, Israel Hayom Staff and Nikki Guttman
IAF retaliates against terrorist targets in Gaza, hitting training facilities and weapons caches
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The Erez crossing at
Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip
Photo: AFP
Israel announced
the closure of its Gaza border crossings on Thursday in response to
daily rocket fire from the enclave over the past week after U.S.
President Donald Trump's official recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Wednesday stoked Palestinian anger.
The IDF said in a statement that "due to
the security events and in accordance with security assessments" Kerem
Shalom crossing – the main passage point for goods entering the Gaza
Strip – and the Erez pedestrian crossing would be shut as of Thursday.
It did not say how long the closure would last.
Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi
Hanegbi told Israel Radio on Thursday that while Hamas was not
technically behind the rocket attacks, it needed to rein in terrorists
from "breakaway groups" or it would find itself forced to contend with
the Israeli military.
Some 15 rockets have been fired into
southern Israel since Trump's Dec. 6 announcement. No casualties have
been reported as a result of the projectiles, but the attacks have taken
a psychological toll on the residents of southern Israel.
Before dawn on Thursday, the Israeli Air
Force carried out a series of strikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting
training facilities and weapons caches.
"Israel will not tolerate any harm or
attempt to harm its citizens, and will continue to protect them and its
sovereignty with clear determination," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said
Thursday in a statement. "The Hamas terrorist organization, which
controls the Gaza Strip, is marching the residents of Gaza toward a life
of poverty, destruction, and desperation, and it must take
responsibility for the situation [there]."
On Wednesday, the IDF reported that the
Iron Dome anti-missile system had intercepted two rockets fired at
Israel from Gaza, while a third exploded in an open area. No injuries
were reported.
The mayor of the rocket-weary southern town
of Sderot, Alon Davidi, said in response to the rocket fire that "I
expect the prime minister, the defense minister, and the IDF chief of
staff to pummel terrorist organizations mercilessly. We will not suffer
through ongoing rocket fire on Sderot. 'Sporadic' [rocket fire] is not
part of our plan."
Reuters, Israel Hayom Staff and Nikki Guttman
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2017/12/14/idf-closes-gaza-crossings-over-stepped-up-rocket-attacks/
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