Israel hits Gaza with airstrikes, closes crossings

Gulfnews.com reports: The Israeli air force hit the Gaza Strip early Sunday for the second time in three days after new rocket fire from the territory hit southern Israel, the military said. It was the third time Israel had staged air strikes in Gaza in the past fortnight, with each raid following rocket fire on the Israeli south, raising fears of a new confrontation with Palestinian militants. The Israeli government also ordered the closure until further notice of the Erez crossing for people and the Kerem Shalom crossing for goods. Palestinian security sources and witnesses said the air force targeted a training site belonging to Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezz Al Deen Al Qassam Brigades, in the northern Beit Lahiya area. The rocket fire on Saturday evening struck open ground near the southern Israeli port of Ashkelon, causing no casualties. The same area was targeted by three rockets on Wednesday night, which also prompted retaliatory air strikes. After that attack, the military deployed batteries of its Iron Dome air defence system around Ashkelon as a precaution, Israeli media reported on Friday...