Israeli jets hit at least seven security and training facilities belonging to Islamic Jihad and Hamas after the heaviest rocket barrage fired from Gaza since the 2014 war targeted Israeli civilians.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from either side after the Israeli military said more than 25 mortar bombs and rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip in several salvoes in the morning and afternoon. Israeli planes attacked at least seven facilities belonging to armed group Islamic Jihad and the territory's dominant Hamas movement after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a "powerful" response. The Israeli military said several of the projectiles fired from Gaza were shot down by its Iron Dome rocket interceptor and others landed in empty lots and farmland. One exploded in the yard of a kindergarten, damaging its walls and scattering the playground with debris and shrapnel, about an hour before it was scheduled to open for the day. ... A Hamas spokesman defended Tuesday's attacks as a "natural response to Israeli crimes". In similarly phrased remarks, an Islamic Jihad spokesman said "the blood of our people is not cheap".

Many Israeli citizens must feel as though they are under siege. Hamas terrorists attack the border using human shields, Iran threatens to construct forward bases in Syria, and now a rocket barrage.

It's clear that Israel has the right man leading it. Prime Minister Netanyahu harbors no illusions about Hamas or Iran. While his policy of immediate and overwhelming retaliation for attacks on Israel may be controversial around the world, Israeli citizens take an entirely different view. They support his hard-line policy because, instinctively, they know it's the right one.

Hamas would be crazy to start another war with Israel, just as Iran would be stupid to continue challenging Israel in Syria. But war has its own logic sometimes, and anything might develop in the Middle East this summer.