JERUSALEM, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army hit 68 Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Friday evening in retaliation for the death of an Israeli soldier, according to a statement issued early Saturday morning by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The IDF announced Friday night that an Israeli combat soldier was killed by Palestinian gunmen during operational activity near southern Gaza.
The soldier was the first killed on the Gaza front in active duty since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, said an IDF spokesman. The IDF also called it the "most serious incident" since the 2014 Gaza war.
In response, the IDF carried out massive strikes against Hamas' military targets across Gaza. "After hitting eight targets immediately by IDF's tanks and aircraft, IDF fighter jets targeted 60 other military targets," read the statement.
According to Israeli media report, Hamas announced a cease-fire with Israel in the early hours of Saturday morning.
So far, Israel has not made official comment on the cease-fire announcement of Hamas.
The Israeli army said that the strikes centered on three Hamas' battalion compounds, including the Zaytun battalion in the northern Gaza Strip, the Khan Yunis battalion in the southern Gaza Strip and the Bureij battalion in the central Gaza Strip.
The strikes eliminated about 60 buildings and infrastructure, dealing a "severe blow" to the Hamas' training array, command and control abilities, weaponry, aerial defense and logistic capabilities along with additional military infrastructure.
Among the targets were weapons manufacturing sites, a shaft to a tunnel network, a factory used for underground infrastructure manufacturing, a UAV warehouse, a military operations room, training facilities and observation posts.
Four Palestinians were killed in the IDF retaliatory action and three were members of Hamas' armed wing, Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, according to Israeli media.
The Israeli army noted that the IDF views Hamas offensive acts with "great severity," and holds Hamas accountable for all threats emanating from the Gaza Strip, adding that the IDF is "prepared for a wide variety of scenarios and is determined to fulfill its mission to protect and ensure the safety of Israeli civilians."
Israeli media reported that the Ministry of Defense will have to decide Sunday whether to extend the harshest set of restrictions it has imposed on Gaza since the 2014 war.
