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Late on January 26, Palestinian fighters launched rockets from the Gaza Strip in an apparent response to an earlier operation by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Jenin refugee camp.
Shortly before midnight, two rockets were launched from the Palestinian enclave. Incoming rocket sirens were heard in the southern Iыrael coastal city of Ashkelon, as well as in its industrial zone, and the nearby settlements of Zikim and Karmia.
The IDF said that both rockets were successfully intercepted by its “Aerial Defense Array,” referring to the Iron Dome system.
Later, in the early morning hours of January 27, three more rockets were fired from Gaza. One of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome system, another landed in an open field and a third fell short of the border, according to the IDF. Alarms were sounded in the settlements of Nir Oz, Ein Habesor and Magen.
None of Gaza’s armed factions took credit for the rocket attacks. However, the IDF held the Hamas Movement, the de-facto ruler of the enclave, responsible.
A series of retaliatory strikes hit what the IDF claimed to be an underground rocket manufacturing site and a significant base of Hamas military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in Gaza.
Palestinian sources said that Israeli fighter jets and combat drones carried out some 18 strikes on two military bases in central and southern Gaza as well as an observation post in the northern part of the enclave. No casualties were reported.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said that its air defenses opened fire at Israeli warplanes. Local sources in Gaza reported the launch of at least two anti-aircraft missiles, which were most likely man-portable air-defense systems.
The rocket attacks from Gaza were without a doubt a response to the IDF operation in Jenin refugee camp in the northern Western Bank on January 26 morning. Ten Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed in the operation. Israel said that the target of the operation was a cell of the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The operation was condemned by the Palestinian Authority, who suspended security coordination with Israel in response. A series of protests by Palestinians were also organized in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Several protesters were wounded in clashes with ISraeli security forces.
The situation in Gaza could escalate further in the upcoming few days, as the backlash from the IDF operation in Jenin is not over yet. Many Palestinians are demanding a serious response to deter Tel Aviv.
