Israel Begins Striking Hamas after Rocket Attack

A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad
A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad
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Israel Begins Striking Hamas after Rocket Attack

A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad
A police sapper inspects a damaged house that was hit by a rocket north of Tel Aviv Israel March 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Ammar Awad

The Israeli military said Monday it started striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after a rocket hit a house in central Israel earlier in the day, wounding seven people.

The military said that Israeli forces "started striking Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip."

It accused Hamas of firing the rocket that destroyed a house in Mishmeret, a village north of Tel Aviv.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated seven people, including an infant, a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a 60-year-old woman who was suffering from blast injuries, burns and shrapnel wounds.

There was no claim of responsibility for the early morning strike.

Monday's rocket was the second launched toward central Israel in recent weeks.

Local authorities in southern Israel started readying bomb shelters ahead of possible hostilities.

Israeli media reported that flights to and from Israel's main international airport were diverted from their normal flight paths, and train services to several southern cities near the Gaza Strip have been canceled.

The Israeli military has also closed several roads around Gaza.



Netanyahu Says Israel Won't Stop Striking Hezbollah

Lebanese army soldiers and residents stand in front of a damaged building in the southern suburb of Beirut following an Israeli raid, in Beirut, Lebanon, 26 September 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanese army soldiers and residents stand in front of a damaged building in the southern suburb of Beirut following an Israeli raid, in Beirut, Lebanon, 26 September 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Netanyahu Says Israel Won't Stop Striking Hezbollah

Lebanese army soldiers and residents stand in front of a damaged building in the southern suburb of Beirut following an Israeli raid, in Beirut, Lebanon, 26 September 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Lebanese army soldiers and residents stand in front of a damaged building in the southern suburb of Beirut following an Israeli raid, in Beirut, Lebanon, 26 September 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel is striking Lebanon’s Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.

Netanyahu spoke as he landed in New York to attend the annual UN General Assembly meeting and as US, European and some Arab officials were pressing for a 21-day halt in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah to give time for negotiations.

Netanyahu said Israel’s “policy is clear. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force. And we will not stop until we reach all our goals, chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes.”

He added that he approved the “targeted killing operation” of the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit in south Beirut Thursday.

Israel has dramatically escalated strikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is targeting Hezbollah. Israeli leaders have said they are determined to stop more than 11 months of cross-border fire by the group into Israel, which has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from communities in the north.