"Our response to this crime will come. Our double strike in Beersheva is an example of the kind of blow which we can inflict on the Zionists," Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.

The attack carried out by combat aircraft was Israel's first major response to a double suicide bombing on two buses in the southern city of Beersheva last week which left 16 people dead as well as the two Hamas bombers.

In a separate statement, Hamas also claimed responsibility for a rocket attack which landed on the southern Israeli city of Sderot several hours after the air strike. No one was injured in the attack launched from northern Gaza.

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