Israel’s army and militants in Gaza have engaged in their heaviest attacks since the 2014 war in an escalation of violence that followed weeks of bloodshed at Palestinian protests along the frontier.
On Tuesday morning, militants fired close to 30 mortar shells into Israel’s south, the largest such assault since 2014.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fighter jets responded with strikes on more than 35 sites it said belonged to Gaza’s rulers, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad faction. Further salvoes of rocket fire were later launched into Israel. Israeli rocket warning sirens continued sounding late into the afternoon.
“This is definitely the biggest barrage of rockets and mortar fire to Israel since Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014,” said IDF spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus. “And equally, it is also the largest IDF response, or retaliatory attack.”