国际英语新闻:Israel launches two air strikes to Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Air Force launched two air strikes to the Gaza Strip on Thursday night, which reportedly wounded at least one person in the Shiek Raduan neighborhood.

An army spokesperson told Xinhua that the air strike targeted a weapon manufacturing facility in the central Gaza Strip and a weapon storage facility in the northern Gaza Strip. "Direct hits were confirmed," the spokesperson added.

The Israeli strike followed a second Qassam rocket that was launched in the last 24 hours from Gaza-ruled Hamas into southern Israel. Both rockets hit an open territory and no casualties or damages were reported.

"We will not tolerate daily aggression from the Hamas ruled territory and are morally obligated to act against those threatening our communities, our towns and our cities," Israel Defense Force Spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, said in a statement.

The current round of aggression flared earlier this week, when a Defense Ministry employer was killed by a Gazan sniper while fixing the border fence which was damaged from a recent storm. Palestinian media reported that a four-year old child was killed in an Israeli assault that was launched shortly after the incident.

Over the weekend, at least one Palestinian man was killed and a few other Palestinians who approached the fence were shot by Israeli soldiers.

In the meantime, the Israeli military is continuing to boost up its preparedness for an escalation in the fighting with Palestinian militants in the strip and boosted the air-defense systems known as Iron Dome anti-missile batteries, to protect communities from future missile attacks.