Gaza rocket hits bus, Israel launches airstrikes on Palestinian enclave


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/ Source: Reuters

By Yuliya Talmazan and Lawahez Jabari

A missile from militant-controlled Gaza hit an Israeli bus on Monday, triggering a barrage of airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli television showed the bus engulfed in flames and black smoke billowing into the sky.

“Our fighter jets have started striking terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” Israel Defense Forces said on Twitter. “The skies of southern Israel right now. Dozens of rockets are being fired from #Gaza at Israeli civilians.”

Sirens were sounding across southern Israel Monday afternoon amid the swift escalation of tensions between Hamas and Israel.

The IDF said about 80 rockets had been launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Monday, with “a number” intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

Just hours earlier, an Israeli army officer and seven Palestinians, including a local Hamas commander, were killed after an incursion by Israeli special forces into Gaza.

The clashes prompted Israeli airstrikes and the salvo of rocket fire from Gaza toward Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed back to Israel after the violence broke out, cutting short a trip to Paris.

Lawahez Jabari reported from Jerusalem; Yuliya Talmazan from London.


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