Between Saturday and Sunday night the Israel Defense Forces attacked a central Hamas rocket production site in the Gaza Strip in response to the launch of a rocket into Israeli territory.
The IDF attacks came after a period of calm interactions between Israel and the Gaza-based terrorist groups and on the heels of the revelation that Qatar has pressured Hamas to keep the Gaza strip calm during the World Cup.
The IDF stated that the site that was attacked by Air Force jets served as a "central site for the production of most of the organization's rockets in the Gaza Strip." In addition, the Air Force attacked a tunnel of Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip used for importing illegal weapons.” During the attack, the Israeli jets were shot at, and in response an alert was activated in open areas in the areas surrounding Gaza, to warn of possible debris or fallen jets.
A rocket was fired now from Gaza toward Israel but it fell in an open area. The IDF is expected to respond.
— Documenting Israel (@israelmuse) December 3, 2022
Get instant alerts on my Telegram channel here:https://t.co/82dxW6XGXp pic.twitter.com/U2hGsnaaga
The “Izz ad-Din al-Qassam” Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, accepted responsibility for the shooting: "Our air defense responded today with surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft missiles to the hostile Zionist fighter jets in the skies over the Gaza Strip." In response to Hamas attacking Israeli jets, the IDF attacked a military position of the organization.
The chain of events began when a missile launch was detected from the Gaza Strip, and the rocket fell in an open area near the border, not far from Israeli towns. The IDF said that no interceptors were launched and that there are no special guidelines for local Israeli residents.
#Israel 🇮🇱 / #Gaza
— Nexx_ (@_Nex3_) December 4, 2022
‼️Tonight the IDF shelled Gaza in response to the launch of SAM missiles against the IAF warplanes pic.twitter.com/khl8WTP9Vb
The missile took place almost three days after the killing of Muhammad al-Saadi, a field commander in the "Jenin Brigade" and a member of the Islamic Jihad, in a firefight with Israeli security forces. Al-Saadi, after whose death a general strike was declared in Jenin, was a known commander responsible for arming activists and shooting attacks against Israeli security forces. He is also a key figure responsible for the kidnapping of 18-year-old Tiran Pero from the hospital in Jenin. Along with al-Saadi, Naim Zabeidi, the cousin of the terrorist Zakaria Zabeidi, was also killed in the same operation in Jenin.
After al-Saadi and Zabeidi's deaths, Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziad Nachkala called their families, expressed his condolences, and promised: "The struggle with the enemy is long, our martyrs are the wall of freedom of our people and the line of defense of our country."
IDF confirms it is attacking targets in the Gaza Strip following rocket fire into Southern Israel.
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) December 3, 2022
Reported video from Gaza👇 pic.twitter.com/oA6AbTBhqy
He further described the dead as those "who are On the first front line." The organization's supporters demanded revenge for eliminating al-Saadi, which apparently came in the form of missiles from Gaza. The entire Jihadist attack on Israel comes amid the World Cup while Hamas and its principal benefactor, Qatar, continues to pressure the Islamic Jihad not to stir current relations up.
