(Gaza City, Gaza) -- An Israeli air strike on Gaza on Monday (October 22) wounded at least four Palestinians, witnesses said, hours after five rockets fired from the Hamas-run enclave hit southern Israel.
Injured men were rushed to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya but two were later transferred to Gaza's main Shifa hospital.
An Israeli army statement said Israeli aircraft targeted a rocket launching squad in the northern Gaza Strip and confirmed a direct hit.
Israel said the strike, as well as an exchange of fire between Palestinians and the Israeli army, came after a rocket salvo hit areas in southern Israel earlier on Monday. There were no reports of damage or injuries on the Israeli side of the border.
The air strike came one week after another Israeli air strike on Gaza killed two Palestinian gunmen and the leader of an al Qaeda-linked militant group. A number of Jihadist Salafi groups have surfaced in Gaza in recent years.
Unlike Hamas, they endorse an ideology of global Jihad and some accuse Hamas of failing to implement Islamic laws in the coastal enclave.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for any attacks launched from Gaza. Hamas rejects permanent peace with Israel and has controlled the enclave since 2007.
The border is tense with frequent clashes and the Israeli Defence Force say more than 50 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel so far this month.