Israel raids Gaza after rocket attacks as conflict escalates

Israeli warplanes launched raids against targets in Gaza overnight after two rockets were fired at Israel from the coastal enclave, Palestinian security officials said on Saturday.

No one was hurt in the air attacks which struck bases of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules Gaza, in Gaza City and east of it, one source said.

A military spokeswoman confirmed the raids and said warplanes struck "targets of a terrorist organisation" in response to "two rockets fired on Ashkelon and Ashdod" in southern Israel on Friday afternoon.

Friday's attack was the first time any rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip since Sunday when militants in the Hamas-run territory began observing an unspoken truce, a military spokesman had said. (read more)