Israeli planes target Gaza sites after rocket attack

The Israeli air force carried out attacks on the Gaza Strip early on Thursday in response to a rocket attack targeting the Jewish state, the army and Palestinian sources said.

The rocket, which had hit an open area in southern Israel, caused no damage or casualties. In response to it, the Israeli air force "targeted two Hamas sites in the southern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

According to the army, since the beginning of 2016, nine projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip hit Israel.

The army "holds Hamas accountable for all attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip," it said.

Palestinian security officials said the Israeli raids targeted Hamas military sites in Nuseirat and Rafah, causing no casualties.

Earlier this month, a four-day flare-up of border duels between Israel and Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas constituted the heaviest exchanges of fire between the two sides since the 2014 Gaza war that killed 2,251 Palestinians and 73 Israelis.