Israel strikes Hamas targets in Gaza after soldiers wounded

Israel holds it responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza (Pixabay photo)

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said it struck 18 targets in Gaza overnight, in response to an explosive device that wounded four soldiers along the border with the territory, as Gaza officials said the bodies of two Palestinian teenagers who were killed trying to infiltrate Israel were recovered on Sunday.

The military said its airstrikes were part of its expanded response to the attack, in which two of the soldiers were seriously wounded.

The military said the targets included weapon-manufacturing sites and training infrastructures of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. Israel holds it responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza, regardless of who carries them out. There were no reports of casualties in Gaza from the attacks.

Also Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said it recovered the bodies of two 17-year-olds who were shot dead near the border area in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said it has shot toward two people who had tried to cross the border fence from Gaza. The shooting happened on Saturday.

The border area has been generally quiet since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, but has seen an increase in violence after President Donald Trump’s announcement in December recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The exchanges come amid rising warnings of a brewing humanitarian disaster in Gaza that Israel fears could spill over into violence.