GAZA CITY: Israeli warplanes struck the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after the first rocket fire from the Palestinian territory in weeks hit an Israeli city, in a blow to efforts to avert a new war.
Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas disavowed the rocket fire, saying they rejected "all irresponsible attempts" to undermine Egyptian efforts to broker a new long-term truce. But Israel, which holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire from the territory regardless of who launches it, struck 20 targets in Gaza, killing one Palestinian, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel also closed both its border crossings with Gaza in reprisal, further isolating the blockaded enclave where deteriorating living conditions have stoked violent protests along the border. Gaza militants fired two rockets before dawn, one of which caused major damage to a family home in the southern city of Beersheba, 40 kilometres away, the Israeli army said.
The family of three children narrowly escaped injury after their mother moved them into the safe room, with much of the rest of the house destroyed, the army said. "At 4 am (0100 GMT), Israelis in the city of Beersheba were running to bomb shelters after a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel," the army tweeted.
The other rocket came down in the sea off Tel Aviv, 70 kilometres from Gaza, the army said. Speaking after meeting with senior security officials Wednesday afternoon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a forceful response.
"Israel views with utmost gravity the attacks against it on the fence, on the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, on Beersheba -- everywhere," he said, referencing months of often violent protests in Gaza.
"If the attacks don’t stop, we’ll stop them. I want to tell you today -- Israel will take very strong action." Hamas and allied militant group Islamic Jihad condemned the latest rocket fire as "irresponsible".
But Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus rejected the disavowal, saying Hamas bore "full responsibility" as Gaza’s de facto ruler. Retaliatory strikes had hit 20 targets, including a Hamas attack tunnel and an "advanced weapons manufacturing site", he said.
They killed one Palestinian in northern Gaza who the army said was set to launch a rocket. The military released a video showing a man near the border preparing a rocket for launch before being hit by a missile strike.
At least three other Palestinians were wounded in the strikes, the Gaza health ministry said. Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered the closure of both of Israel’s border crossings with Gaza in reprisal, making the heavily restricted Rafah crossing with Egypt the enclave’s sole gateway to the outside world.