JERUSALEM: Israeli aircraft targeted a Hamas facility in the northern Gaza Strip early Monday, hours after two rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave struck southern Israel, the army said.
“In response to the rockets launched toward southern Israel, IAF (Israel air force) aircraft targeted a Hamas training compound in the northern Gaza Strip,” a statement from the military said. “In the compound three structures and other terror infrastructure were targeted.”
There were no reports of injuries from the health ministry in Gaza.
On Sunday night, two projectiles fired from Gaza hit southern Israel, one damaging a home in a border town.
Another projectile flew short of its target and hit Gaza, the army said.
The Sunday attacks ended a three-day lull in the latest wave of rocket fire amid anger over US President Donald Trump’s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Militants in the Palestinian enclave have fired both rockets and mortar rounds into Israel since Trump’s deeply controversial announcement.
Trump’s announcement was followed by protests across the Palestinian territories, with six Gazans killed — four in clashes with Israeli forces along the border and two Hamas militants in an Israeli air strike in retaliation for rocket fire.
The rockets are often fired by small Islamist groups but Israel holds Gaza’s rulers Hamas responsible for any attacks from the territory.
“The IDF (Israel defense forces) holds the Hamas terror organization accountable for this hostile act originating from the Gaza Strip,” the Monday statement from the military read.
Israel targets Hamas site in Gaza after rocket fire
Israel targets Hamas site in Gaza after rocket fire
UN chief appoints Finland’s Haavisto as personal envoy for Sudan
- Former Finnish FM has extensive experience in mediation in the Horn of Africa and Middle East
- Haavisto was Finland’s minister of foreign affairs from 2019-23
NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Pekka Haavisto, the former Finnish foreign minister, as his personal envoy for Sudan, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.
Haavisto succeeds Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria and brings more than 40 years of experience in politics and international affairs to the role, having previously held ministerial positions in Finland’s government as well as senior positions with the EU and UN. He is currently a member of the Finnish parliament.
Haavisto was Finland’s minister of foreign affairs from 2019-23. From 2016-19, he was president of the European Institute of Peace. He has also held the ministerial portfolios of development cooperation, state ownership, and the environment. Haavisto was elected to the Finnish parliament in 1987.
The new personal envoy has broad experience in mediation and negotiation processes in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, and has worked extensively with the UN, said Dujarric.
From 2009-17, he was special representative to the Finnish foreign minister for mediation and crisis management in Africa. Between 2005 and 2007, Haavisto was the EU special representative for Sudan, where he took part in the Darfur peace negotiations. During that period, he also acted as a UN senior adviser to the Darfur peace process.
Haavisto worked for the UN Environment Programme from 1999 to 2005, including assignments in Iraq, the Palestinian territories, Liberia, and Sudan.
Asked why Lamamra had stepped down, Dujarric said that it was a “joint decision” between the Algerian envoy and the secretary-general.
