Israeli Air Strikes Hit Gaza Strip: Army

JERUSALEM (ANTARA/AFP) - Israel carried out air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight Monday in response to recent rocket fire against Israel, the army said in a statement. The Israeli planes targetted an arms factory in the centre of the Palestinian territory as well as three tunnels used for smuggling contraband, two in the north and one in the south, the army said. The targets were hit, the statement added. "The targetting of these sites was in response to rockets fired against Israel in recent days," the military said. So far this month at least seven rockets have been fired towards Israeli territory from the Palestinian enclave controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement. They resulted in no injuries or major damage. Hamas has engaged in a tacit truce with Israel, secured with Egyptian mediation, but that has not stopped more radical organisation, notably among Gaza's Salafist minority, from firing projectiles into southern Israel. Four Palestinian fighters have been killed by Israeli strikes since the end of December.(*)