A third missile since the conflict over the summer has been fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip. The missile landed in an open area in the Eshkol Region of southern Israel and did not cause any damage or injuries.

The last rocket was fired from Gaza on Nov. 7. It may have only been a test by the Hamas militants and was said to fall short of Israel’s border, actually landing on the border fence.

In response to the rocket launch, Israel sent aircraft to conduct an airstrike on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The airstrike hit an area that is known to have Hamas training sites for militants. No injuries were reported.

A spokesman for the Israel military, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, emphasized that Israel continues to seek to protect its citizens and will not let assaults on them go unanswered. He also said that Hamas was responsible for the retaliatory attacks.

In a surprise move, a court in the European Union declared that Hamas should no longer be listed as a terrorist organization. This was said to be for “procedural reasons,” but the court added that the Union can continue to freeze the assets of individual members of Hamas.

In response to this decision, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, asked that the organization be returned to the list immediately. They are a “murderous terror organization,” he said.

As long as a group remains on Europe’s official list of terrorist organizations, European officials cannot deal with it at all. It also means that any of the group’s assets held in any European Union country must be frozen. After a group is removed from the list, there is a period of up to three months in which an official investigation can take place to determine if there is a reason to keep the group on the list, or the assets must be released once the three months are completed.

Another incident occurred between Palestinians and Israel on Friday. Six Palestinians were wounded in the Gaza Strip after Israeli military fired on them. The cause of this incident is unknown.

Hamas has been holding its biggest military exercise since the summer. The sounds of shooting and occasional explosions were heard through the night. Israel’s forces did not engage them and were not involved. One of Hamas’ members of their military wing was killed by an accidental explosion while making explosives. Four others were also injured.

During the war with Hamas over the summer, called Operation Protective Edge by Israel, there were more than 4,500 Hamas’ rockets launched against Israel. The brief war of 50 days left 2,100 Palestinians dead and 66 soldiers and six civilians from Israel. Many Palestinian deaths were civilians and children because Hamas launched its rockets from civilian structures. Israel reports that Hamas is once again replenishing its rockets, getting ready for the next battle.

During that war over the summer, Hamas learned that its larger rockets were almost useless to inflict damage in Israel. Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense system proved quite capable of stopping nearly all rockets that were approaching Israel’s larger cities.

In preparation for the next war, Hamas has been testing the use of mortar shells. These seem to have greater effect because they are more likely to escape the targeting system of Israel’s defenses. Hamas terrorists have also been testing large rockets fired simultaneously as a way to defeat the Iron Dome system. They are reportedly testing this idea by launching rockets every few days into the Mediterranean Sea.