GAZA: Israel said it carried out an airstrike on Sunday against a Gaza militant who it blamed for cross-border rocket attacks last week, and Palestinian medics said two people, including a 12-year-old, were wounded.

The so-called “targeted attack” against a man the Israeli military identified as Ahmad Sa’ad, a senior Islamic Jihad operative, was a sign of growing Israeli aggression.

The military said Sa’ad was personally responsible for the launching of five rockets at the Israeli southern city of Ashkelon on Thursday that were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.

Palestinian medics said Israeli aircraft attacked a motorbike in the northern Gaza Strip, and that a 24-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy were wounded. They did not identify the two, but the Israeli military said Sa’ad was hit in the strike. In a statement on Sunday’s airstrike, the military said it “targeted an integral component of the Gaza terrorist mechanism.”

The military said Sa’ad was planning further rocket strikes soon against Israel. Earlier on Sunday, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck southern Israel, causing no casualties. Israel responded with airstrikes on two sites in the territory.

Hamas said two of its training camps were hit in the attacks, but no one was hurt.

Meanwhile, Israel plans to deploy a new missile shield known as “Iron Beam” next year which would use a laser to blow up short-range rockets and mortar bombs, a defense industry official said on Sunday.

The system is designed to deal with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged efficiently by Iron Dome, the Israeli interceptor credited with an 80 percent success rate against rockets.

Both shields are manufactured by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. While Iron Dome launches radar-guided interceptor rockets, Iron Beam’s laser will super-heat the warheads of shells with ranges of up to 7 km.

Rafael said Iron Dome would be formally unveiled at next month’s Singapore Air Show.

Israel decided on Sunday to end a decades-old policy of issuing gas masks to the public in an apparent sign of confidence in Syria’s chemical weapons disarmament.

Since being hit by Iraqi Scud missiles during the 1991 Gulf War, authorities have handed out masks, though Syria’s chemical arsenal was Israel’s primary concern in recent years.

Netanyahu’s office said in a statement the decision to stop providing masks to all Israelis was a result of “a defense establishment assessment.”