Israel said its aircraft hit terror sites for Gaza’s Hamas rulers early Saturday after two rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave.

This was Israel’s first strike against Hamas since the start of this week’s cross-border fighting with another Gaza terrorist group, the Iran-backed Islamic jihad. The shooting ended in a shaky cease-fire announced Thursday.

The worst bout of fighting in months began Tuesday after Israel’s targeted killing of a senior Islamic Jihad commander in an airstrike.

Israel had so far refrained from attacking Hamas, which has kept to the sidelines, adhering to understandings reached through Egyptian mediators after previous rounds of fighting with Israel.

But Israel’s military on Saturday reiterated its long-held position that Hamas was “responsible for events transpiring in the Gaza Strip and emanating from it,” following several firings of rockets by Palestinian militants since the Egyptian-brokered deal took effect.

Israel said Saturday that its air defenses intercepted two rockets coming from Gaza. In response, Israel struck a Hamas terror camp and a naval base. There were no reports of injuries and no immediate comment from Hamas.

The new rocket fire could potentially be attributed to other, smaller terrorist groups or some factions within Islamic Jihad who are not satisfied by the terms of the cease-fire.

(AP)