Israel: Gaza militants fire more rockets into Israel after overnight air strikes
Militants in Gaza launched a fresh barrage of rocket fire into southern Israel today after overnight Israeli airstrikes, underscoring the fragility of an unofficial 16-month ceasefire with Hamas. The latest escalation in tensions began yesterday when Islamic Jihad, another Gaza militant group, fired rockets into Israel.
No Israeli casualties were reported from either of the rocket attacks that targeted the towns of Ashkelon and Ashdod. But the exchange has stirred new fears of escalating tit-for-tat violence at a time when the US is brokering peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The crisis began on Tuesday, when an Israeli airstrike killed three members of Islamic Jihad, according to Reuters. The group retaliated Wednesday by firing more than 60 rockets at southern Israel, which in turn precipitated the bombing of 29 sites in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Air Force.