Israel targets Hamas base after gunfire from Gaza

The Israeli military has said on Thursday its air force had attacked a Hamas military position in the Gaza Strip overnight from which gunfire had hit homes in southern Israel.

Shots from Gaza had on Wednesday hit a number of houses in Netiv Haasara, just north of the Palestinian enclave, causing damage but no casualties, it said in a statement.

"In response to the shooting, an IAF (Israel air force) aircraft targeted a Hamas military post in the northern Gaza Strip, from where the shots were fired," it read.

The army could not say whether the shots from Gaza had been deliberate or stray fire from the Hamas position, identified in Israeli media as a training base.

Palestinian security sources said two missiles fired from the plane hit a training facility in Beit Lahiya belonging to Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, causing damage but no casualties.

Gaza has been subjected to an Israeli blockade for nine years, which includes a complete ban on ships entering or leaving the coastal enclave’s waters.