Israeli aircraft hit Gaza after rocket attacks

JERUSALEM — Israeli aircraft struck a weapons-manufacturing facility and two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, in response to recent rocket attacks on Israel, the military said.

Palestinian security officials reported no injuries.

(enlarge photo) Hamas police officers, right, take a break during a training session on the outskirts of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009. A Gaza charity linked to the ruling Hamas militant group is offering $1.4 million to anybody who captures an Israeli soldier. The Waad group sent an e-mail on Wednesday calling on people living in Israel to try take soldiers hostage. The organization, which supports Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, is headed by Hamas' Interior Minister Fathi Hamad. He did not return calls seeking comment. Waad's director, Usama Kahlout, says the offer is in response to an Israeli group's offer to pay Gazans for information on the whereabouts of a captured soldier held by Hamas for more than three years. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Israel went to war against militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza last winter to quash eight years of rocket and mortar fire that terrorized southern Israel and killed 18 civilians.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the war, and since it ended on Jan. 18, the attacks have decreased sharply. According to the military's count, 270 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel since the three-week offensive ended on Jan. 18, compared with more than 3,300 in 2008.

But Israel says weapons and weapons-making components still reach militants through tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt. And sporadic fire continues, including a rocket attack Wednesday that caused no injuries.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it would "respond to any attempt to disrupt the calm in Israel's southern communities."

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