Israeli aircraft hit Gaza for first time since August

GAZA - Israeli aircraft hit Gaza for the first time since an August truce ended 50 days of war after a rocket hit the Jewish state, witnesses and the army said Saturday.

A health ministry spokesman in the Gaza Strip said there were no casualties in the air strike, which came just hours after the rocket hit an open field in southern Israel on Friday without causing casualties or damage.

It was only the third time a rocket had been fired from the Palestinian enclave since the August 26 truce between Israel and the territory's Islamist de facto rulers Hamas.

The Israeli army said the air strike had "targeted a Hamas terror infrastructure site".

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the "Hamas terrorist organisation is responsible and accountable" for the rocket fire, which he said the army viewed "with severity".

Hamas did not say it was behind the rocket attack, but Israel holds it responsible for any rocket fire from Gaza, regardless of who carries it out.

Gaza's Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, its former premier there, denounced the "dangerous violation of the ceasefire" by Israel, and in remarks to reporters urged Egypt to "move with urgency" to ensure the Jewish state respects the agreement.

The summer war between Israel and Hamas killed 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, nearly all of them soldiers.

The Egypt-brokered ceasefire which ended it was supposed to have been followed by talks on a more lasting truce, but these were called off amid deteriorating relations between Cairo and Hamas.

When the ceasefire came into effect, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that his government would not tolerate a single rocket being fired at Israel, and would strike back even more strongly if attacked.

Also on Saturday, the navy fired warning shots after fishing boats sailed beyond the six nautical mile limit enforced by Israel, one off Gaza's southern coast and one off the northern coast.

A military spokeswoman told AFP the vessels returned to waters where the navy allows them to operate.

Source