Rocket from Gaza draws Israeli air strikes, one person wounded

Palestinians run from air strike Palestinians run as smoke rises following what police said was an Israeli air strike on a Hamas post, in the northern Gaza Strip February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

GAZA (Reuters) – A Palestinian rocket launched from Gaza struck Israel on Monday, causing no casualties or damage, in a rare attack that drew Israeli air strikes against Palestinian militant targets.

A 70-year-old Palestinian man was slightly wounded in one of the Israeli strikes, health workers said, identifying him as a passerby. He was the only reported casualty on either side of a frontier that has been largely quiet in recent months.

“In response to the projectile fired towards southern Israeli communities earlier today, the air force targeted three Hamas posts in the northern Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military said in a statement, cautioning it “will not tolerate rocket fire towards civilians”.

Gaza residents said an armed training camp, a security compound and an observation post belonging to Hamas were hit.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Palestinian rocket strike.

Israel has said that Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, bears overall responsibility for what happens in the enclave.

Hamas has observed a de-facto ceasefire with Israel since a 2014 war but small armed cells of Jihadist Salafis have defied the agreement and have continued to occasionally launch rockets at Israel. When those attacks occur, Hamas usually orders its fighters to vacate potential targets for Israeli retaliation.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; editing by Ralph Boulton)

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