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Israel strikes Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire

Exchange of fire, which caused no injuries, is the latest in a spate of shellings and air raids between Israel and forces linked to Hamas
Smoke trails from rockets fired towards Israel from within the Gaza Strip (AFP)

Israel's air force hit the Hamas-run Gaza Strip early on Thursday after Palestinians fired a rocket into southern Israel, the military said.

"Israel Air Force aircraft targeted three Hamas posts in the northern Gaza Strip," an army statement said.

"The IDF sees the terrorist organization Hamas as solely responsible for what takes place in the Gaza Strip and will continue to act severely in order to maintain quiet in the southern communities."

One of the strikes hit empty agricultural land close to a camp controlled by the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, according to Palestinian news site Maan. 

The strikes were a response to a rocket fired from Gaza which hit open ground in Israel late Wednesday night - the military reported no casualties from the attack.

Earlier on Wednesday, the military said a mortar shell fell in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in what appeared to be a spillover from the conflict in Syria.

On 22 August, Israel pounded Gaza with aircraft and tank fire after a rocket fired from the coastal strip hit the southern Israeli town of Sderot without causing any injuries. 

Palestinian medical officials said four people were wounded during the dozens of retaliatory raids, which targeted bases of Hamas's military wing, as well as of two smaller militant groups. 

On 2 July, Israeli air raids hit four sites in Gaza after a rocket struck a building in Sderot.

There were no casualties in either attack. 

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