IDF Strikes Hamas as Mortars Fall, Tensions Rise

Stand for Israel | January 31, 2020

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-UNREST-DEMO — A boy wearing a face bandana walks past a sign depicting a map of historical Palestine coloured with the Palestinian flag defaced with writing in Arabic reading "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine" as other gather behind during a demonstration by Israel's controversial barrier in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah, on January 31, 2020. - US President Donald Trump's controversial peace plan, seen as overwhelmingly supportive of Israeli goals, has been firmly rejected by the Palestinians and triggered protests in Gaza and the West Bank. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Like many Fridays, today finds tensions rising in the Holy Land. Along with Palestinian protests due to the unveiling of the Trump peace plan, The Times of Israel’s Judah Ari Gross reports that terrorists in Gaza launched projectiles into Israel, forcing the IDF to respond:

Three mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel Friday afternoon, the Israel Defense Defense Forces said. The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted one of the projectiles, while the other two struck open areas…
In response to the attack, an IDF tank fired a shell at a Hamas observation post near the border in southern Gaza, the military said…
Early Friday, the Israel Air Force carried out strikes in Gaza in response to three rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave at Israel.
The army said among the targets hit was an underground facility used to manufacture weapons…
Tensions between Israel and Gaza have been steadily rising over the past two weeks after several months of relative calm. Fears have mounted in recent days of an escalation of violence in Gaza and the West Bank following the release of a US peace plan that is seen as heavily favoring Israel.
Two of the rockets fired at Israel late Thursday were shot down by the Iron Dome missile defense system. The third landed in an open area. There was no claim of responsibility but the army said it holds Hamas, the de facto ruler in the Strip, responsible for any violence emanating from the enclave.
A three-week-old girl was hospitalized with moderate head injuries after being hurt during a rush to a bomb shelter in Sderot…