![Smoke is seen rising following an Israeli air strike on Gaza city, March 25, 2019. Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday after a rocket attack near Tel Aviv wounded seven people, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a visit to the United States [Ashraf Amra/Apaimages]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/250319_ASH_00-8.jpg?fit=589%2C800&ssl=1)
The Israeli army reports that it struck a number of targets inside a Hamas military compound in the area of Rafah in the southern Strip.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli daily, the Israeli military claims it was responding to incendiary balloons and rockets fired earlier toward Israel from the Strip.
Read: Israel bombs Gaza, positions troops after rocket attack near Tel Aviv
Further, sources report that rockets fired toward Ashkelon have been intercepted by Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’.