Prime Minister Naftali Bennett touched on rocket fire toward central Israel at the first cabinet meeting of the new year on Sunday.
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On Saturday, Hamas opted to usher in 2022 by firing two rockets at central Israel. In response, IDF fighter jets, helicopters, and tanks targeted a number of the group's military targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Saturday and early Sunday.
The rockets landed off the coast and there were no reports of wounded or damage. As per protocol, because the rockets were on course to land in the sea, no sirens were activated and they were not intercepted. Tel Aviv residents reported hearing explosions off the coast as the rockets fell.
The IDF said airstrikes hit a rocket manufacturing facility, while tanks fired on several Hamas outposts on the border.
"As fireworks lit up the skies to celebrate #NewYear2022 around the world, a different type of fire came from Gaza – terrorist rocket fire toward Israel," the IDF said on Twitter.
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Bennett said, "The air force attacked several targets in Hamas' rocket manufacturing compound in Khan Younis last night. In addition, the IDF also attacked Hamas positions on the border.
"These strikes are a response to the rocket fire yesterday [Saturday] toward the Mediterranean coast. I want to make something clear: all Hamas' stories about thunder and lightning [causing the rockets to go off] which are repeated every winter, are no longer relevant. Anyone who aims rockets at Israel will bear the responsibility," Bennett said.
The IDF stressed that Hamas was responsible for what took place in Gaza and would carry the ramifications for any terrorist actions carried out from the Gaza Strip.
Video filmed in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip showed three huge explosions and fighter jets could be heard flying overhead.
Hamas Radio said some of the group's security posts and a training camp were targeted by Israeli aircraft and tanks. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
A source in the terrorist organizations said the rockets had been fired due to "weather conditions." However, various reports in Arab media outlets said that the rocket fire had been intentional and carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Recently, the PIJ issued threated that if Hisham Abu Hawash, one of its members currently on a hunger strike in an Israeli prison, dies, the group will treat his death as a "targeted killing" and "act accordingly."
On Saturday, the PIJ declared that it held Israel "completely responsible" for the continued decline of Abu Hawash's health.
The news site Falastin al-Youm, identified with the PIJ, reported Saturday that any Israeli response to the latest rocket fire would be "met with a violent response."
Egyptian media reported that Cairo has intervened and called on both sides to deescalate.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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