Israel has fired what it says “retaliatory airstrikes” on early Friday hitting the targets of Hamas in southern Lebanon, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement, reported CNN on Friday.
Lebanese news agency Al-Manar reported that “Israeli airstrikes hit an open area in Tyre region after which the Israeli jets appear to have left the Lebanese airspace.”
“The IDF will not allow Hamas to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory,” the IDF said in a statement.
In response, Hamas condemned the Israeli attacks in a statement released on Friday and expressed “solidarity with the Lebanese people.”
Several videos surfaced on social media showing rockets coming from Lebanon going one after another in the Israeli skies.
In another statement, Hamas also condemned the strikes carried out by Israel in Gaza Strip.
A CNN journalist in Gaza City “heard the sounds of explosions and jets” after the Israeli forces said they were targeting the city — hitting multiple areas with rockets.
In response, several rockets were also fired from Gaza toward Israel.
In Gaza City, a children’s hospital was damaged as a result of the Israeli attacks which put young patients in danger, said Palestinian Health Ministry in a statement.
It also added while condemning the brutal attack that “This is not the first time that health facilities have been targeted, and it is unacceptable.”
Just hours before Israeli forces hit Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel would hit our enemies and they will pay a price for every act of aggression.”
The tensions have heightened after the Israeli police’s raids at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem beating innocent worshippers in the holy month of Ramadan.
The Israeli brutality in Al Aqsa Mosque was widely condemned by the Muslim countries provoking a response from Gaza in terms of rockets at Israel.