Israel’s military says Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have launched about 20 rockets towards Israeli border communities – the heaviest such attack in months.
A number of the projectiles were intercepted and others landed inside southern Israel, but no injuries were reported. The military said it responded with artillery fire.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said it launched the barrage in response to Israeli “crimes”.
It came as fierce fighting continued for a fifth day in Shejaiya in the north of Gaza and an Israeli soldier was killed in the southern Rafah area.
On Sunday, Israel’s prime minister said its troops were engaged in a “difficult fight” across the entire Palestinian territory.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 37,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 23 over the past 24 hours, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. On Monday morning, sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the Gaza border fence, many of which have been evacuated since the 7 October attack.
The Eshkol Regional Council later reported that 18 rockets were launched towards areas it governs, according to the Jerusalem Post. Most landed in open areas, but one fell “in the area of Kibbutz Holit’s fence”, it said. Another rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, it added.
The Times of Israel reported that Monday’s barrage was the largest from Gaza since January, when at least 25 rockets were launched towards the city of Netivot.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the latest rocket-fire had come from the southern Khan Younis area and that its artillery had struck the sources.
Credit: bbc.com
