Israel launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday-Friday, hitting a series of sites belonging to the Hamas terror group, in retaliation for a barrage of rockets from the Palestinian enclave as well as from Lebanon — attacks Israel blames on Hamas.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel also staged strikes in Lebanon, targeting “terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas” in the southern part of the country. Hamas has a strong presence in southern Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Friday that Israel “will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory.”
After no additional rockets were fired in the morning, the military after several hours removed all restrictions on border towns — which had required residents to stay near bomb shelters — in what was seen by Hebrew media as a sign that the IDF was viewing the current flareup on the Gaza front as over.