4 Qassams hit Negev after IAF strike in Gaza
Air Force strikes Islamist group position near Dir al-Balakh refugee camp; Palestinians retaliate with four rockets toward Negev, one person suffers from shock in Sderot. ‘Aerial attacks in Strip have an accumulating effect on terror activists,’ IDF official says
The Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas base Sunday evening near the Dir al-Balakh refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
It was not yet clear whether there were any casualties in the attack.
A short while later a Qassam rocket fired by Palestinians from northern Gaza landed in the greenhouse of a community in the Eshkol Regional Council. No casualties were reported.
Two more rockets landed in Sderot, where one person suffered from shock. One of the rockets landed in a yard and made a hole in an apartment's wall. The fourth rocket landed in an open area near Sderot.
The IDF does not plan on significantly expanding its ground activity in the Palestinian territories. A security establishment official said the current activity will continue at an “increased pace”.
Small Infantry and Armored Corps forces are currently positioned in north Gaza as part of the effort to stifle the Qassam rocket cells. The forces are also preparing for other scenarios, including an attempt by Palestinian terrorists to kidnap a soldier.
Until now the IDF has focused on attacking dozens of targets, especially Hamas positions, from the air.
“There is no doubt that these attacks have an accumulating effect on terror activists, but it will be a while before we see the results on the ground,” a military official said.
Senior IDF officers said the army is gearing up for a long and slow process, at the end of which Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian terrorist groups will halt the rocket attacks on Israel.
“We can detect signs of pressure on Hamas,” one officer said.
