Israel Targets Terror Infrastructure in Gaza

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli pilots targeted four terror sites in the Gaza Strip following Tuesday night's rocket attack on southern Israel.

Though Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based Palestinian terror group, fired the rocket, Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from the Strip.

"These strikes are a direct response to Hamas and the aggression against Israeli civilians originating from the Gaza Strip. The reality that Hamas' territory is used as a staging ground to attack Israel is unacceptable and intolerable and will bear consequences," IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement Wednesday morning.

"Israelis cannot be expected to live in the perpetual fear of rocket attacks; the IDF will continue to operate in order to seek out those that wish to undermine Israeli sovereignty with acts of terrorism," the statement concluded.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon warned Gaza will pay a heavy price for attacks on Israeli population centers.

"Israel has no intention of ignoring attacks on its citizens like the one carried out last night by Islamic Jihad forces," the defense minister said in a statement Wednesday morning. "We will not abide any threat on the residents of the south. If it isn't quiet in Israel, the Gaza Strip will pay a heavy price."

"We see Hamas as responsible for what happens in the Gaza Strip," Ya'alon said. "It would be better for Hamas to rein in all attempts to fire at Israel and provocations. Otherwise, we will have no choice but to respond with even greater force."

Around 9 p.m. Tuesday, air raid sirens sounded in Ashdod, Ashkelon, and several smaller communities in the region before the missile hit. Area residents reported hearing several explosions.

A longer-range Grad missile exploded near the town of Gan Yavne on the outskirts of Ashdod, just north of Ashkelon. No injuries or deaths were reported.

Israeli politicians called on the Netanyahu government to respond after terrorists in the Gaza Strip broke nearly a month of quiet and fired a rocket into southern Israel.

Haim Jellin, an Israeli Knesset member in the political opposition and a resident of the area near the Gaza Strip, said, "We must disarm the Gaza Strip in exchange for its rehabilitation. While the people there have nothing to lose, we here will continue to suffer."

Following the rocket attack, Hamas evacuated its headquarters in Gaza City, apparently expecting some sort of military action by Israel.