Israel strikes Gaza Strip after rocket fire
Israel yesterday hit the Gaza Strip before dawn in what it said was a retaliatory strike for rocket fire from the Palestinian territory controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas.
The exchange of fire came hours after US President Joe Biden visited Israel and the occupied West Bank.
"A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck a military site in the central Gaza Strip belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation," a statement from the Israel Defense Forces said.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem denounced the strikes, which the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said caused no injuries.
WAFA said Israeli missiles were fired at two locations, one "near a tourist resort" where nearby houses were severely damaged.
Balls of fire lit up the night sky over Gaza City after the strikes, which at one location left a hole in the earth beneath dislodged paving stones in front of a low-rise building.
Impoverished Gaza, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, has been under Israeli blockade since 2007 when Hamas seized power from the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
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