Since the weekly marches of return on the Gaza Strip's eastern border with Israel first began in March 2018, 10 military escalation rounds have occurred between Gaza and Israel. The latter has fired rockets toward Hamas military targets, while the movement, along with other factions, has responded by firing rockets toward southern Israeli settlements.
The most recent military escalation in Gaza was on Sept. 11, when the Israeli army bombed Hamas positions, including an arms factory, a tunnel and naval targets, in response to rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. The cross-border shelling caused no casualties on either side.