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.



Harris Calls for Gaza Ceasefire after Hamas Leader’s Killing

 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to the press before a campaign rally at Western International High School in Detroit, Michigan, October 19, 2024. (AFP)
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to the press before a campaign rally at Western International High School in Detroit, Michigan, October 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Harris Calls for Gaza Ceasefire after Hamas Leader’s Killing

 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to the press before a campaign rally at Western International High School in Detroit, Michigan, October 19, 2024. (AFP)
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to the press before a campaign rally at Western International High School in Detroit, Michigan, October 19, 2024. (AFP)

US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Saturday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip, presented an opportunity for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

"This creates an opening that I believe we must take full advantage of to dedicate ourselves to ending this war and bringing the hostages home," Harris told reporters.

"As it relates to the issues in the Middle East and in particular in that region, it has never been easy. But that doesn't mean we give up. It's always going to be difficult."

The Oct. 7 attack Sinwar planned on Israeli communities a year ago killed around 1,200 people, with another 253 dragged back to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent war has devastated Gaza, killing more than 42,500 Palestinians, with another 10,000 uncounted dead thought to lie under the rubble, Gaza health authorities say.