Israel’s Defense Force said on Feb. 23 it had conducted strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to earlier rocket attacks from the area, as the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem turns increasingly violent.
On Twitter, Israel’s forces alleged that the latest strikes on the Gaza strip had hit a naval weapons manufacturing and storage site of the terrorist organization, Hamas.
Hamas built their military compound next door to a mosque, medical clinic, hotel, police station, and school, the IDF said.
It is not clear if any civilians were injured in the targeted attack.
“In response to the rockets fired from Gaza, IAF fighter jets struck both a weapons manufacturing site and military compound belonging to the Hamas Terrorist Organization, located in central and northern Gaza,” the IDF said.
“This serves as further evidence as to how the Hamas Terrorist Organization exploits the civilian population of Gaza by deliberately placing its weaponry in the center of civilian areas,” Israel’s forces added.
The strikes came shortly after Israel said that Palestinian militants had fired six rockets from Gaza. Those strikes came shortly after an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Nablus prompted violent clashes, leaving 11 Palestinians dead.
The rocket attacks were not immediately claimed by Palestinian militant groups.
Prior to the latest strike, Israel’s forces said that the IDF Aerial Defense Array had intercepted five of the six rockets that were fired from Gaza where numerous terrorist and militant groups operate, while one fell in an uninhabited area. The rockets had been fired toward the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot, according to reports.
There were no reports of injuries in Israel or Gaza following that strike.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli officials had launched a four-hour raid of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, targeting terrorists suspected in previous shooting attacks.
According to officials, all three of the wanted terrorists were killed along with eight others, including a 72-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy who were killed by crossfire between the terrorists and the IDF. Hundreds of bystanders were wounded.
No Israeli casualties were reported, as it is rare for them to be in the area.
The raid marked one of the bloodiest events to have stemmed from fighting between the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the past year, deadlier still than Israel’s raid of Jenin last month that left nine dead.
A day after that raid, a terrorist opened fire on a synagogue in Jerusalem, killing seven.
Ziad al-Nakhala, leader of the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad terrorist group, called the latest raid by Israel on terrorist groups in Nablus a “major crime,” adding, “It is our duty as resistance forces to respond to this crime without hesitation.”
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said told a press briefing on Feb. 22 that Washington is “extremely concerned by the levels of violence in Israel and the West Bank,” and the impacts the latest raid on terrorist targets could have on “restoring calm for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
“Today in Nablus, at least 10 Palestinians, including both militants and civilian bystanders, were killed and over 100 injured during an Israel Defense Forces counterterrorism operation,” Price said. “We wish a speedy recovery to those injured and our hearts go out to the families of the innocent bystanders who were killed today.”
“We recognize the very real security concerns facing Israel. At the same time, we are deeply concerned by the large number of injuries and the loss of civilian lives,” Price added.
The State Department spokesman added that the latest events underscore the urgent need for both sides to “work together to improve the security situation in the West Bank.”
Nearly 60 Palestinians have been killed in the troubled West Bank and east Jerusalem so far this year. In 2022, 150 Palestinians were killed in those areas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.