Israeli airstrikes on Hamas after rocket hits empty Sderot kindergarten

No injuries were reported on either side. The exchange comes amid an escalation of violence in the West Bank following a pair of fatal attacks against Jewish settlers that has sparked Israel's largest military surge in two years.

|
(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian man inspects a damaged artesian well drilling truck after an early morning Israeli airstrike hit a workshop in Gaza City, Saturday, July 2, 2016. The Israeli military struck a series of militant sites in Gaza early Saturday in response to a rocket attack that hit a kindergarten in the Israeli border town of Sderot.

The Israeli military says it struck several militant sites in Gaza early Saturday in response to a rocket attack that hit a kindergarten in the Israeli border town of Sderot.

No injuries were reported on either side but damage was caused to buildings. The exchange comes amid an escalation of violence in the West Bank following a pair of fatal attacks against Jewish settlers that has sparked Israel's largest military surge in two years.

The military said airstrikes targeted four training sites run by Gaza's militant Hamas rulers. Late Friday, a rocket from Gaza struck an empty kindergarten, marking a rare successful hit of a civilian target in Israel. Rocket attacks have been sporadic since Israel and Hamas waged a 50-day war in the summer of 2014.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said the rocket attack was "a horrific reminder of the intentions of terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip to target communities, people, men, women and children."

"Over the past two days Israeli civilians have witnessed and experienced the devastating effects of incitement-fueled terrorism based on hatred and radical beliefs," he said. "In our efforts to ensure stability, we continue to defend against those who put innocent lives in harm's way."

On Friday, a Palestinian gunman ambushed a family traveling in a car in the southern West Bank, killing an Israeli man and wounding his wife and two teenage children. The previous day a Palestinian teen stabbed a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl to death as she slept in her bedroom in a West Bank settlement.

The attacks prompted Israel to send hundreds of troops to the area and impose a closure on the Hebron district, where many of the recent attacks have originated. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will reduce the amount of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians each month, saying that some of the money was being given to families of attackers. His Cabinet will convene late Saturday to discuss further measures.

Visiting the site of Friday's deadly shooting, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel would be taking unprecedented steps to track down the killers of Miki Mark, a 48-year-old father of 10. Lieberman said the approval of 42 new housing units in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, where the 13-year-old girl was stabbed to death, would send a message that every attack would only strengthen Israeli settlements.

Over the past nine months Palestinians have carried out dozens of stabbings, shootings and attacks using cars against civilians and security forces, killing 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans. Israeli troops as well as some armed civilians have killed about 200 Palestinians during this period, most said by Israel to be attackers.

Israel says the violence is fueled by a Palestinian campaign of lies and incitement, compounded on social media sites that glorify attacks. Palestinians say it stems from frustration at nearly five decades of Israeli rule in territory they claim for a state.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Israeli airstrikes on Hamas after rocket hits empty Sderot kindergarten
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2016/0702/Israeli-airstrikes-on-Hamas-after-rocket-hits-empty-Sderot-kindergarten
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe