Gaza-based terrorists fired a massive rocket barrage on Israeli border towns over the weekend, triggering a powerful military response. The skirmish was the worst flare-up on the Israel-Gaza border since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
Color Red warning alerts wailed across the western Negev area some 173 times over the weekend, as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists fired 200 mortar shells and rockets into Israeli border communities.
The Iron Dome defense system intercepted 30 projectiles headed for residential areas, while the rest hit opens areas on both sides of the border, the IDF said.
Four Israelis, members of the same family, sustained minor injuries when a Qassam rocket hit their building in Sderot.
The military bombed dozens of Hamas posts in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, including two terror tunnels, the Hamas headquarters in Beit Lahiya, a high-rise building in al-Shati refugee camp that served as a Hamas urban warfare training facility, and dozens of smaller posts.
Palestinian health officials said that while the building in al-Shati was empty, two Palestinians, aged 15 and 16, were killed in a nearby public park and 10 others were wounded.
"Hamas is the sovereign ruler in the Gaza Strip and, as such, it will be held accountable for all that transpires there," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in a statement.
"The IDF is prepared for a variety of eventualities in Gaza and will intensify its response in accordance with the situation assessments and operational needs," the statement said. "The IDF is determined to protect Israel's sovereignty and its citizens."
An Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between Israel and the terrorist groups was achieved on Saturday night and while it officially came into effect at 8 p.m., four projectiles were fired at Gaza-vicinity communities between 1 and 2 a.m. Sunday.
The Israeli Air Force retaliated by bombing the post where two of the projectiles were launched.
Hamas stopped short of claiming responsibility for the rocket fire, but group spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called it "an immediate response by the resistance to the escalation by Israel."
Barhoum later confirmed a cease-fire had been reached. He lauded Egyptian efforts "to restore calm and end the escalation."
In a separate statement, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad also said that a truce had been reached.
On Sunday morning, the Homefront Command, which over the weekend barred the residents of the Gaza-vicinity communities from holding mass gatherings and instructed them to remain close to bomb shelters, said residents could resume their normal routine.
Palestinian media reported Sunday that two people, apparently a father and son, were killed, and a third person was wounded in a "mysterious explosion" in a building in central Gaza.
While some in the Palestinian media immediately pointed the finger at Israel, the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV station attributed the blast to a "work accident" – a term usually used to describe the accidental detonation of explosives being prepared by one of the terror groups in the Strip.
IDF is ready for any scenario
This weekend's military operation in Gaza was the broadest since 2014.
Defense officials told Israel Hayom that the objective of the operation was twofold – to restore Israeli citizens' sense of security and send a message to Hamas that Israel was not deterred by Gaza rocket attacks.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot convened a special situation assessment at the Southern Command headquarters on Saturday. Senior officers who attended the meeting said Eizenkot declared that the IDF could no longer contain the aggression from Gaza, adding that Israeli strikes on terror targets in the coastal enclave will continue unless a diplomatic solution is devised.
The Southern Command's 162nd Division, which was scheduled to hold a large-scale exercise simulating a ground incursion in Gaza City, has been ordered to go ahead with the drill.
If need be, its forces could be scrambled to the border, one officer noted.
Still, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis told reporters Saturday that "while it is still too early to speak of a full-scale military campaign in Gaza, we are ready for one."
He added that the military had warned Palestinians to leave certain areas before the raids, saying, "We have no intention to harm anyone who is not a terrorist. … We have to get Hamas to realize that rocket fire is doomed to fail."
A senior IAF officer noted that "if Hamas opts to widen the range of rocket fire, it will regret it."
A top Southern Command officer added, "Only the facts on the ground will dictate our future response."
The fighting began on Friday, when thousands of Palestinians rioted near the Israel-Gaza Strip border as part of a Hamas-orchestrated campaign launched on March 30.
Rioters torched tires and hurled rocks, firebombs and explosives at Israeli troops. One Israeli officer was wounded when a Palestinian rioter launched a grenade across the border fence.
Hours later, Israel launched an airstrike in Gaza, to which Hamas retaliated with a rocket salvo.
