Israeli air forces shelled a military post in the northern Gaza Strip -- allegedly belonging to the Hamas movement -- Monday morning, according to Israeli army and local Palestinian sources.
Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses told Ma'an that at least one Israeli artillery shell hit a military post belonging to what they called the "Palestinian resistance," east of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, next to the border with Israel.
The shelling caused material damages, though no human injuries or casualties were reported.
An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that early Monday morning, sirens went off in the Shaar Hanegev area of southern Israel -- which borders the northeastern Gaza Strip -- alerting the residents of the area that a rocket had been fired in their direction.
No rockets hit Israeli territory, the spokesperson added, and "in response to the rocketfire, Israeli air forces targeted a Hamas military post in the northern Gaza Strip."
The majority of the more than 1.8 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are sealed inside the coastal enclave due to a near-decade long military blockade imposed by Israel and upheld by Egypt on the southern border.
The crippling blockade was imposed following the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian elections and the subsequent 2007 clashes between Fatah and Hamas, which left Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah in control of the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army has previously said it holds the Hamas movement -- the de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip -- responsible for all attacks from the territory, although other Palestinian militant groups are active in the small coastal enclave.
