JERUSALEM, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military said it struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a rocket from the besieged Palestinian enclave attacked Israeli territory.
Early in the morning, Israeli fighter jets hit eight targets in three compounds belonging to Hamas, the Islamist organization that runs Gaza, according to a military statement.
"Among the targets struck by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is a military compound in the northern Gaza Strip, a training facility and a munition manufacturing and storage site in the southern Gaza Strip," the statement read.
The strikes came in response to a rocket fired from Gaza overnight, which hit an empty field in southern Israel without causing injuries or damage.
Palestinian media reported no casualties in the Israeli air attacks.
No group in Gaza has assumed responsibility for the rocket attack but the Israeli military holds Hamas accountable for "all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip and emanating from it."
However, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, another major Islamist group in Gaza, blamed a fringe group for launching the rocket.
They condemned the rocket launch as an attempt to sabotage the Egyptian and UN efforts to broker a long-term cease-fire in return for the lift of the crippling blockade on Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt since 2007.
The tension around Gaza has been high since March 30, the first day of the ongoing Palestinian "Great March of Return" rally against Israeli blockade on the coastal enclave.
At least 200 Palestinians have since been killed by Israeli gunfire.
