Friday 30th September, 2011Israeli air force hits Gaza following rocket launch
• Night-time raid was made on Hamas military base
• Israeli officials confirmed missile strike
• Strike was in response to rocket fire from strip
The Israeli air force carried out a night-time raid on a Hamas military installation Thursday following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Two rockets were fired into Israel on Thursday, Palestinian Authority and Hamas officials confirmed, while a statement from the Israeli Defence Forces claimed that one such rocket had struck an abandoned building.
The statement added that Israeli jets were scrambled in response and a “direct hit was confirmed” on a “terror activity site” in the central Gaza Strip.
The alleged Hamas military base was located east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp, although medical personnel in the area have confirmed there were no related civilian injuries or deaths.
The rocket attack and retaliatory missile strike comes at an extremely sensitive time in the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations as the occupied territory seeks full UN membership and recognition of statehood.
The effort, which has been bogged down by bureaucracy in the United Nations, has enflamed passions and tension between Palestinians and Israeli settlers and led to clashes and several deaths on both sides.
The situation was compounded when Israel announced the expansion of a settler development in East Jerusalem, a move which was criticised by major allies, including the US, UK and European Union.
Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, but Israel refutes the ruling.
Hamas, the group which controls the blockaded Gaza Strip, has criticised the Palestinian Authority's move at the UN, saying that neither negotiations nor UN resolutions can give the Palestinians what they want.
It is unclear whether the latest rocket launch into Israel was an attempt to derail the Palestinian Authority's efforts.
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