Israel, Gaza militants exchange fire amid soaring tensions

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military says it struck targets in the Gaza Strip hours after Palestinian militants fired a rocket at Israel. The airstrikes early Thursday were the latest in an uptick of violence in the region. Israeli aircraft struck a rocket production workshop in the Gaza Strip as well as a storage site used by a rocket production line. Late Wednesday, Israeli air defenses intercepted a rocket from Gaza, the army said. There were no reports of casualties from the rocket or the airstrikes. The exchange further raised tensions during a particularly violent period in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict