Israel targets Gaza with airstrikes after intercepting rocket attack

Smoke rises during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on February 2, 2023.

(CNN)Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza early on Thursday after intercepting a rocket attack from the coastal enclave, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

In a Twitter post, the IDF said Israeli fighter jets targeted a chemical production site and a weapons manufacturing facility owned by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza.
"The IDF holds Hamas responsible for all terrorism activity emanating from Gaza and it will face the consequences of the security violations against Israel," the IDF wrote.
    On Wednesday, the IDF reported that one rocket fired from Gaza had been intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array.
      On Thursday, it released two videos of the airstrikes, filmed in black and white, that showed huge plumes of dark smoke in the air and pieces of debris falling to the ground.
      It's not clear whether there were any casualties.
      The official Palestinian News & Information Agency reported that F-16 warplanes had launched at least five missiles at a "site" in the central Gaza Strip, setting it on fire and damaging nearby homes. Two missiles also hit agricultural land in the central area, it said.
        The strike comes after a period of bloodshed on both sides. Last Thursday Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded several others in the West Bank city of Jenin, in the deadliest day for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in nearly two years. This was followed by a shooting near a Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, which Israel has deemed one of its worst terror attacks in recent years.
        It also follows US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Israel and the West Bank this week, which some had hoped would help cool rising tensions.