A large number of rockets and mortar shells were fired out of the Gaza Strip against southern Israel today, apparently in retaliation for yesterday’s Israeli attack on a motorcycle in a crowded district, which wounded two militants but also several schoolchildren.
The Gazan strikes, as usual, didn’t hit much, doing some damage to a few building and killing a goat in a petting zoo, also wounding several nearby sheep. No human casualties were reported.
Israeli warplanes and tanks also attacked Gaza in retaliation for the retaliation, hitting several sites including a mosque in the tiny Palestinian enclave. No reports of casualties have been made so far either.
The attacks from both sides put an end to a period of relative calm on the Israel-Gaza frontier. Such escalations are not uncommon, but some Israeli officials have raised the notion of invading Gaza in the past several months, suggesting they are “due” for another invasion, having not done so since early 2009.
