IDF confirms retaliatory strike targeting Hamas leader Haniyeh's Gaza office

RT
Mon, 25 Mar 2019 19:19 UTC

© Reuters/Suhaib Salem

Israeli airstrike in Gaza

Israeli airstrikes have hit the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, the IDF said. It confirms earlier Palestinian reports that the strikes, coming in response to a lone rocket fired into Israel had high-profile targets.

The bombed building, the Israel Defense Forces said, was previously targeted in a 2012 Israeli bombing campaign, codenamed 'Cloud Pillar,' and is regularly used by Hamas leadership to hold military meetings.

The strike on Haniyeh's office was initially reported on Hamas' radio network. Haniyeh himself had reportedly gone into hiding earlier on Monday, expecting an Israeli strike. In a written statement, the Hamas leader said the Palestinian people "will not surrender," and "will deter the enemy."

After bombing Haniyeh's office, The IDF took to twitter to gloat. "What do you do at your office each day? Send emails? Create spreadsheets? Make phone calls?," the IDF tweeted. "Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh uses his office in order to lead a brutal terrorist organization in a war of aggression against Israel. We just destroyed his office."

Israeli warplanes and helicopters also targeted Hamas' military intelligence headquarters and internal security service offices in Gaza, according to the IDF's twitter account.

Palestinian militants responded to the airstrikes by launching rockets at Israeli towns near the Gaza border, according to the IDF. Minutes after the IDF confirmed hitting Haniyeh's office, air-raid sirens sounded across southern Israel.

Monday's airstrikes came after a rocket launched from Gaza hit an Israeli family's home north of Tel Aviv in the early hours of the morning, injuring seven people. Israel responded by calling up reserve soldiers and mobilizing armor and infantry brigades, before launching airstrikes on Monday afternoon.

As the strikes were ordered, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut his trip to Washington short to return home. Before departing the US, Netanyahu was in attendance while US President Donald Trump signed a declaration recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, annexed from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Trump condemned the rocket attack, and voiced his support for Israel's "right to defend itself."

Comment: Press TV. 3/25/19: Hamas denies any involvement in the rocket attack on Tel Aviv

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has rejected Israel's claim that it launched a rocket which hit a house north of Tel Aviv and wounded seven settlers.

"No one from the resistance movements, including Hamas, has an interest in firing rockets from the Gaza Strip towards the enemy," a Hamas official, who asked not to be named, told AFP on Monday.

He added that the same message had been conveyed to Egypt, which intervened to broker a ceasefire and prevent Israel from launching another war on Gaza after tensions escalated last year.

His remarks evoked the possibility that the rocket strike may have been caused by "bad weather."

Earlier on Monday, Israeli authorities said a long-range rocket launched from the Gaza Strip had struck Mishmeret, a settlement north of Tel Aviv, wounding seven settlers.

Israel's military said the rocket was fired by Hamas from the Rafah area in the south of Gaza.

The incident had forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short his trip to Washington as he pledged to "respond with force" to the rocket attack.

The attack came a day after Israeli warplanes bombed the besieged enclave ahead of the anniversary of Gaza fence protests at the weekend.

See also: Israel launches another round of airstrikes against Gaza, in response to one rocket strike (which Hamas denies firing)