Israel launches air strikes on Gaza targets, the first since the August truce

Israeli military said the airstrike was on what it called a 'Hamas terror infrastructure site'

Israeli troops in Gaza (file picture) (Getty)

Israel has carried out an airstrike on a Hamas site in Gaza, its first against the Palestinian territory since this summer's war, which ended when a truce was signed in August.

The Israeli military said the airstrike, in the early hours of Saturday morning, was on what it called a "Hamas terror infrastructure site" in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli military officials said they had acted in response to a rocket having been fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Friday without causing any injuries.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said Israel's military "will not permit any attempt to undermine the security and jeopardize the well-being of the civilians of Israel. The Hamas terrorist organisation is responsible and accountable for today's attack against Israel."

Early on Saturday Gaza residents reported hearing two explosions in the Khan Yunis region, an area said to contain training sites for Palestinian militants. No injuries were immediately reported.

Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in July, claiming it needed to take action to stop rockets being fired into its territory from Gaza.

Hamas responded to Israel’s airstrikes and ground invasion by launching more rocket attacks. At the end of 50 days of fighting, some 2,200 people had died, the vast majority of them residents of Gaza.