Negative Blogs

Recent Palestinian attacks have ratcheted up tensions.

GAZA - Israeli warplanes bombed the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday, following a rocket attack on southern Israel a day earlier.

Three children were reported injured by flying debris after the air raids that came in the early hours of Friday in eastern Gaza City, al-Jazeera reported.

The Israeli military said the air strikes targeted four weapons factories, BBC News reported. There was confusion about the number of strikes with reports ranging from seven to 13.

Reuters witnesses said four of the air strikes took place near the central town of Khan Younis, the site of a deadly clash last week between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen. A fifth air strike rocked Gaza City.

Hamas security officials said 10 sites were hit: a cheese factory, a movie-making complex built by the territory’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers and open areas where militants train.

Rocket fire
The Israeli military said the air strikes came in response to a rocket attack Thursday, which caused no injuries.

“The strikes are in response to the rocket firing on Thursday,” the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement on its Web site.

“Nearly 20 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip during March, killing one man … and doubling the number of rockets fired this year.”

More than 40 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel since the beginning of the year, the IDF statement said.

A string of recent Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel has ratcheted up tensions. Last year, Israel conducted a bruising war in Gaza after years of rocket attacks.

A Palestinian man walks through a destroyed workshop at the scene of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Friday.