Israel shells Hamas post in Gaza after rocket attack

Israel on Monday struck with artillery the northern Gaza Strip, demolishing a Hamas post which was used earlier for firing a rocket towards Israel's territory, a military spokesperson said.

The rocket landed in an open field, causing no injuries or damages, Israeli authorities said.

In response, an Israel Defense Forces tank targeted a Hamas post in the northern Gaza Strip, the spokesperson said in a statement.

Palestinian media reported that two bombings hit the Beit Lahia area, causing no injuries.

It was the first time that rockets were fired from the besieged Palestinian enclave since October, according to a recent report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Information Center, an Israel-based research center with close ties to Israel's intelligence arms.

The Center's 2016 report shows that over the past year, rocket attacks by Gaza militants were at their lowest point in 11 years.

Israel's last full-blown military campaign in Gaza ended in July 2014 after 51 days of war. Since then, sporadic fire incidents occur on both sides of the border but have never evolved into a full-blown war.

source: Xinhua