|
JERUSALEM, Nov. 30-- Israeli officials said on Thursday evening that they are ready to respond to any more assaults from Gaza, after a day of attacks and counterattacks. The flare-up came after Gaza-based militants fired at least dozen mortars at soldiers near the separation fence between Israel and the Palestinian enclave, reportedly in retaliation for a fatal shooting of a Palestinian villager by a settler in the West Bank earlier on Thursday. An Israeli military spokesperson said the mortars targeted a military position next to the fence. According to the spokesperson, the mortars caused no injuries but a minor damage was done to the position and the soldiers had to stop the "important infrastructure works" they were doing. Additionally, the train service between the southern town of Sderot and the city of Ashkelon was temporarily halted for fear of further attacks. No organization immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Less than an hour later, Israel struck Gaza with tanks and an aircraft. "IDF (Israel Defense Forces) tanks and IAF (Israel Air Force) aircraft targeted four military posts in the northern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement. Two of the posts belonged to Hamas, an Islamist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, and two to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Gaza-based Islamist group, according to the army. The statement added that the army holds Hamas "responsible for any hostile activity perpetrated against Israel from the Gaza Strip." | 
