IDF strikes 18 terror targets in Gaza amid heaviest fighting in years

After an intense Saturday, IDF forces struck 18 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Air sirens were heard in communities close to the operations, yet no rockets were fired on Israel.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Updated: FEBRUARY 18, 2018 11:21
An Israeli tank drives as it returns to Israel from the Gaza Strip August 3, 2014 (photo credit: REUTERS)
An Israeli tank drives as it returns to Israel from the Gaza Strip August 3, 2014
(photo credit: REUTERS)
IDF forces struck 18 Hamas targets Saturday night, the IDF spokesperson's office reported. Among these targets were two Hamas outposts and weapons manufacturing facilities.
The attack was carried out by the Israeli Air Force as well as other army units, and the figure includes the targets struck earlier in the day.
Air sirens were heard in Israeli cities and towns nearby, but no rockets were fired on Israel during the night.
Gaza border brief with Seth J. Frantzman
The IDF holds Hamas responsible for all that happens in the Gaza Strip and is determined to ensure the security of the people of Israel by any means necessary, the IDF spokesperson's unit stated.
Israeli radio station Reshet Bet reported that a Palestinian source claimed that Hamas leaders informed Egypt that they were interested in escalating the current conflict with Israel but that they were not responsible for the attack on IDF soldiers on Saturday.
Air sirens were heard in the southern cities of Sderot, Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, Ashkelon and Sdot Negev Regional Council.
This follows an intense Saturday during which the IAF struck various Hamas targets in the Gaza strip in response to a bomb detonation that wounded four Israeli soldiers as they patrolled the border fence.
Two soldiers were in serious condition, one was moderately wounded and one was lightly wounded, the army said. They were evacuated by helicopter to Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba.
Two Palestinian teenagers were killed during strikes on the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinian Authority news site Wafa reported Sunday morning. The report states that the two were killed in Rafah city.
Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.