Israeli airstrikes in Gaza resume after Hamas
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza resume after HamasReuters

Israeli Air Force jets launched targeted attacks on Tuesday afternoon against roughly 30 terrorist hotspots throughout the Gaza Strip.

Among the targets hit were 20 hidden rocket launching pads, including a medium-range missile launching pad, terror tunnels, a munitions storage facility, terrorist activity locations and the operational infrastructure of a senior member of the Palestinian Authority’s Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.

IDF forces also attacked a terrorist as he made final preparations before launching a rocket salvo from northern Gaza into Israeli territory. The terrorist was wounded in the attack.

A spokesperson for the IDF announced that the attacks were launched, “in response to the incessant firing of rockets into Israeli territory.”

Sirens were heard as early as 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday in the Eshkol, Sha’ar Hanegev, Ashkelon and Ashkelon Coast Regional Councils, following an announcement that Israel’s unilateral ceasefire with Hamas had been ended. A number of rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome missile defense system over the southern city of Ashkelon.

The unilateral ceasefire proposed by Egypt and accepted by Israel was rejected by Hamas. A Hamas official in Cairo said the group was still "considering" the proposal, but Hamas's "military wing", the Ezzadine al-Qassam Brigades, rejected it outright, vowing its attacks would only "increase in ferocity and intensity."

Sirens were heard in many southern communities on Tuesday morning as early as 57 minutes after the ceasefire was declared. From 9:00 a.m. onwards, over 60 rockets were launched from Gaza at locations all over Israel; from communities in the south of the country all the way to Zikhron Yaakov and Yokneam in the north.

Watch: Israeli Air Force Jets take off for operations in Gaza