GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft carried out a series of strikes in Gaza on Monday, wounding at least four people, witnesses said, after a rocket fired from the Palestinian territory hit an empty area in southern Israel. The Israeli military said its planes attacked five positions belonging to Hamas, the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, in response to the rocket strike. When those attacks occur, Hamas usually orders its fighters to vacate potential targets for Israeli retaliation. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel had "no desire or intention to initiate any military move in the Gaza Strip" but that it would not tolerate even a "drizzle" of rocket fire. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Israel would be responsible for any escalation if it continued to target "resistance positions".

Source: The Star February 27, 2017 12:24 UTC