Israel attacks militant site near Gaza-Egypt border

JERUSALEM, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel's air force struck a militant target in Rafah near the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Saturday night, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) targeted a terror infrastructure using fighter jets in the southern Rafah region," the spokesperson said in a statement without elaborating on which target was hit.

"The Hamas is accountable for all activity in and from the Gaza Strip," the statement read.

The strike came shortly after Israel closed down the Kerem Shalom crossing, from which goods were transferred from the West Bank and Israel into Gaza. The army gave no reason for the rare move but said it was made "following an assessment of the situation."

Violence between Israel and the besieged Palestinian enclave have soared following U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, 2017.

Tensions have been on the rise also in the wake of Israel's actions against cross-border tunnels, including the bombing of three such structures over the past months.

Israel seized the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East war and occupied them ever since despite international criticism. Enditem