IDF strikes two Hamas military targets in response to Gaza rocket fire

IDF retaliation hits two Hamas targets - one in northern strip and second in center.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: DECEMBER 15, 2015 00:14
IAF war drill (photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)
IAF war drill
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)
The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck two Hamas terrorist sites early on Monday, hitting targets in the central and northern Gaza Strip after a rocket from Gaza struck in southern Israel. There were no injuries reported in the air strikes or in the rocket attack which occurred on Sunday night.
The IDF Spokesman Unit said the air strikes were a response to the rocket which exploded in an open area in the region governed by Sha’ar Hanegev Council. The rocket triggered warning sirens in Sderot and surrounding areas.
Security forces searched for rocket debris. A small ISIS-affiliated group has sporadically fired rockets at southern Israel. The jihadi-Salafi group calling itself the Omar Hadid Brigades has been behind past rocket attacks, and Hamas has not fired a single projectile at Israel since an August 30, 2014 truce that ended a 50 day war last summer.
The Omar Hadid group is named after a key figure who helped Abu Musabal-Zarqawi set up and run al-Qaida in Iraq nearly a decade ago, planting the seed for the Islamic State in Iraq, which later became known as ISIS when it crossed into Syria.