Hamas terrorists aimed machine guns at Israel Air Force helicopters Sunday night during three counterterrorist strikes on terrorists. No one was injured, and none of the pilots reported damage from the fire.
The terrorist organization warned that it is training its growing army to prepare for "Zionist war forces." Hamas's official website uses the term "Zionist" in order to avoid using the term "Israel."
"The Zionist forces announced that the Zionist Air Force is ready to execute a number of war attacks at the Palestinians over [Gaza] in the next two days," Hamas stated. "Hamas representatives are not ruling out a renewal of all resistance means as a response to the Zionist aggression…. Rocket fire is in the hands of the military wing. It will decide how to react."
Terrorists fired 20 Kassam rockets and several mortar shells on Sunday, but no attacks were reported as of 9 a.m. Monday. Egypt has urged Hamas to stop the attacks, and Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Prof. Gabriela Shalev filed a complaint with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over the escalation in Gaza terrorist violence.
Sunday's attacks reached as far north as Ashkelon; one foreign worker was wounded while working in a Moshav greenhouse and one house in Sderot sustained a direct hit, sending one person into shock.