“Israel Air Force aircraft targeted two terror sites in the Gaza Strip this morning (Sunday, April 28). The targets were a terrorist weapon storage facility and a Hamas training compound in southern Gaza. Direct hits on the targets were confirmed,” the military said in a statement.

“The sites were targeted in response to rocket fire from Gaza directed at civilian communities in southern Israel,” the statement added.

The Israeli authorities also closed on Sunday until further notice the Kerem Shalom goods crossing following, the defence ministry said.

On Saturday, thousands of Israelis had been outside in parks and forests celebrating the Jewish holiday of Lag Baomer with traditional bonfires when the rockets exploded in open areas and caused no injuries, according to AP.

Rocket fire from Gaza has declined since an Egyptian-borkered truce in November ended an eight-day conflict between Israel and militants of Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the territory.

On April 19, two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel without causing any casualties or damage.

The military said it “will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians, and will not allow for a return to the reality before Pillar of Defense where Israeli civilians are threatened. Hamas terror organization is solely responsible for any terror activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.”

“We don’t need Israeli tourists in Turkey and we don’t feel their absence,” Erdogan told journalists of Maariv newspaper during a reception in Istanbul yesterday.

“Thirty-one million tourists came to Turkey last year. Israel’s tourism boycott won’t affect us,” he said.

He also insisted that only when Israel takes necessary steps for the clash, like apologizing for the commando raid that killed nine Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, paying compensation to their families and removing the blockade against Gaza, bilateral relations will improve between the two countries.

“Only if Israel apologizes for IDF soldiers boarding the Marmara and killing Turkish activists, and pays compensation to the families of the dead, and removes the terrible blockade on Gaza, will I be ready to meet with the Israeli prime minister, and perhaps normalize relations between the countries,” Erdogan said.

On May 31, 2010 the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)  boarded the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in a flotilla aimed at breaking Israel’s siege on Gaza in May 2010, leaving nine pro-Palestinian activists dead, according to AFP.

Turkey, which in the past was very friendly with Israel, has elected a government with an increasingly worsening stance toward Israel, as well as increasing support for Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists. “Palestinian men, women and children that have done nothing wrong are being killed wholesale or held in the largest prison,” Erdogan also said according to Globes.

Israeli state officials warned citizens not travel to Turkey on March 13, 2012, Hurriyet daily news reported.