The IDF launched airstrikes on Gaza Strip on Thursday after terrorists fired six rockets from the Palestinian enclave toward the country's south early Thursday, hours after a counterterrorism raid in Nablus triggered a fierce gun battle in which 11 Palestinians were killed, including 4 terrorists.
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The rocket attacks, which were not immediately claimed by Palestinian groups, appear to be triggered by the Wednesday morning raid in Nablus.
Video: Reuters / Israeli strikes hits Gaza after rockets fired overnight
The Israeli military said air defense Iron Dome systems intercepted five of the rockets which were fired toward the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. One missile landed in an open field. There were no reports of damage or casualties.
Among the dead in Nablus were three Palestinian men, ages 72, 66, and 61, and a 16-year-old boy, according to health officials. Palestinians claim more than 100 others were wounded.
It was one of the bloodiest battles in nearly a year of fighting in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and raised the likelihood of further bloodshed. Israeli police said they were on heightened alert, while the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza said its patience was "running out." Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another group, vowed to retaliate.
The four-hour operation left a broad swath of damage in a centuries-old marketplace in Nablus, a city known as a militant stronghold.
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