Israel bombs three Hamas-linked sites in blockaded Gaza

By Mohamed Majed and Hani al-Shaer

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Israeli fighter jets bombed three sites affiliated with the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, at dawn Thursday in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that Israeli warplanes had struck three separate positions inside the strip: two in the south and one in the north.

According to Palestinian medical sources, the strikes did not result in any casualties.

Earlier Thursday, the Israeli army claimed that a rocket was fired from Gaza into Israeli territory.

In a tweet, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system had responded to the rocket launch.

He did not say, however, whether or not the rocket was successfully intercepted.

The latest escalations come amid a fresh round of shuttle diplomacy by Egyptian officials between Gaza and Ramallah (the Palestinian government’s administrative capital) aimed at hammering out a Hamas-Israel truce and promoting Hamas-Fatah reconciliation.