The airstrikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his security cabinet to discuss the rocket fire. He vowed an 'aggressive response.'
The Associated PressSmoke rises amid buildings during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Thursday.At least two loud explosions could be heard in Gaza. It was not immediately clear what was struck.
The airstrikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his security cabinet to discuss the rocket fire. He vowed an "aggressive response." There was no immediate Israeli response in Lebanon, where militants fired some 34 rockets across the border. The military said 25 were shot down by its Iron Dome aerial defence system. Five rockets struck Israeli territory and the rest of the strikes were being investigated. Israel said two people were wounded.
"It's a Palestinian-oriented event," he said, adding that either the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, which are based in Gaza but also operate in Lebanon, could be involved. But he said the army believed that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were aware of what happened and also held responsibility. He declined to say how Israel might respond, saying there were "all sorts of scenarios.
Tensions have simmered along the Lebanese border as Israel appears to have ratcheted up its shadow war against Iranian-linked targets in Syria, another close ally of Iran, Israel's archenemy in the region. Suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks have killed two Iranian military advisers and temporarily put the country's two largest airports out of service. Hecht said Thursday's rocket fire was not believed to be connected to events in Syria.
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