Israeli air strike targets Hamas in response to rocket attack

JERUSALEM - Reuters

Palestinian workers remove the rubble of a building that was destroyed during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the summer of 2014, on August 25, 2015 in Gaza City's eastern suburb of al-Shejaiya. AFP Photo

Israel launched an air strike against a Hamas facility on Aug. 27 in response to a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said. 

No one was hurt in the night-time rocket attack on southern Israel, the army said in a statement. There were no immediate reports of any casualties in the Palestinian enclave after warplanes struck what the Israeli military said was a weapons factory belonging to the ruling Hamas Islamist movement. 

Salafi jihadist groups that support al Qaeda's calls for a global holy war have claimed most of the sporadic rocket strikes on Israel from the Gaza Strip since the end of a 50-day war a year ago. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Aug. 27 rocket, which exploded in an open area adjacent to the Gaza border, but Israel has said it holds Hamas accountable for any attacks from the enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians. 

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry website, 11 rockets from the Gaza Strip, excluding the one launched on Aug. 27, have struck Israel since the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that halted the Gaza war. 

Three weeks ago, after a rocket hit southern Israel, Israeli planes bombed a Hamas training camp, wounding four security men. A small Salafi group said it had launched it.