Dozens of mortars fired at Israel from Gaza

By Nathan Morley

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his army would respond forcefully to a rocket attack from militants within the Gaza Strip, whilst blaming the attack on Hamas and militant group Islamic Jihad.

The notorious Iron Dome aerial defence system shot down 30 rockets heading over Israeli airspace.

Several shells landed in the garden of a kindergarten in the Eshkol district, but nobody was harmed.

According to reports, a Hamas base was struck by shells, which were launched in response to what Israel said was a ‘barrage of projectiles’ fired from Gaza into the south of Israel.

Emmanuel Nahshon, from the Israeli Foreign Ministry tweeted: "No country in the world would or should accept such threats to its civilian population. Neither do we."

Israel-state radio said there had been no reports of injuries or damage and it remains unclear who shot the rockets from Gaza.