Israel on Saturday canceled the recently increased quota of permits for Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip to enter and work in Israel, in response to the launching of rockets from the Strip into Israel earlier that day.
The quota had been increased earlier in the week in a goodwill gesture ahead of US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli Defense Ministry unit that coordinates civilian issues between Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and foreign governments and international organizations, announced the decision to reduce the work permits in a statement that held Hamas responsible for “everything that happens in the Gaza Strip.”
At around 5 am on Saturday, the Israeli Air Force launched an airstrike on what the military said were weapons manufacturing facilities, while Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip launched two rockets toward the town of Ahuzam, about 20 kilometers east of the Gaza Strip and 5 kilometers south of Kiryat Gat in Israel. Both fell in open areas.
Israel said its airstrikes were retaliation for the launching of two rockets from Gaza toward Ashkelon in Israel at around midnight between Friday and Saturday. One of the rockets was intercepted by Israel’s air defense system and the other fell in an open area.