Israel’s warplanes have attacked Hamas military compound in the Gaza Strip on early Monday in a retaliatory move to earlier airstrike into Israel from Palestine, the military said in an official statement.
According to Al-Jazeera news reports, Israeli authorities have also declared a punitive downing of fuel’s flow to the Gaza’s main power station, leading to a deep cut in already reduced electricity supply.
On Sunday night, Gaza reportedly fired three rockets into southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
In a statement, the army said, “Three launches were identified from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” adding, “Two of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defence system.”
“In response, a short while ago, (Israeli air force) fighter jets struck a number of terror targets in a Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip, including the office of a Hamas battalion commander,” the statement further added.
However, a Palestinian security source has told AFP news outlet there weren’t any immediate report of casualties.
Israel’s defence ministry unit COGAT, in a separate statement, said the recent fuel cut was a personal move by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – also a defence minister.
“The prime minister and minister of defence, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered to downsize the transfer of fuel through the Kerem Shalom (border) crossing to the power station in Gaza by half, effective this morning and until further notice,” it said in English.
Gaza Strip is governed by Hamas, which has battled three wars with the Israeli forces over the last decade,
Israel has used fuel supplies and fishing restrictions as its weapons, easing or tightening restrictions on course of circumstances.