The Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched two rockets at Sderot.
By Rachel Avraham
The Times of Israel reported that two rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip, triggering sirens in the city of Sderot and the nearby town of Ibim. According to the report, both projectiles were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force, with no reports of impacts or injuries. The Al Quds Brigade of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the recent rocket fire.
The alarms came just before 7 p.m., hours after a series of incidents in northern Gaza in which IDF Staff Sergeant Yaniv Michalovitch, an armored corps soldier, was killed and eight others were wounded, Yedioth Achronot reported. Michalovitch’s death brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza to 442, the Times of Israel added. According to the report, the toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.
According to Yedioth Achronot, the rocket fire occurred just three days after the government announced there were no longer security restrictions preventing residents from returning to communities near the Gaza border. Following the rocket fire, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson issued an evacuation warning for residents in several neighborhoods of Gaza City — including Tuffah, Daraj and the Old City — ahead of expected IDF operations in the area, the Times of Israel reported.
The Times of Israel reported that the IDF was operating with “very strong force” and would strike “any area used to launch rockets toward Israel.” According to the report, residents in the affected areas were urged to evacuate immediately southward to the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi and to refrain from returning to the designated combat zones.
Earlier in the day, while visiting IDF troops in Rafah, the Times of Israel reported that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told soldiers that Israel won’t “give up or compromise” on defeating Hamas or recovering the remaining hostages held in Gaza. According to the report, Katz was accompanied by Southern Command head Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, Gaza Division commander Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz, and senior officers from reserve brigades operating in the Strip.
“The maneuver is aimed at achieving two goals — returning the hostages and ensuring Hamas no longer exists here. We will not let go of this objective,” Katz told the troops. “To kill the enemy, bring the hostages home and win — that is our mission. There’s no chance we’ll give it up or compromise on it,” he said. “Hamas has not changed. It wants to continue what it did and to destroy [Israel].” According to the Times of Israel, Katz also accused Hamas of working with Iran to implement its plan to destroy Israel by launching missile attacks and coordinating invasions from Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and other fronts.
Along with Katz’s visit, the IDF announced a partial reduction of the closed military zone in Israel along the Gaza border in line with a new situational assessment, allowing additional civilian areas in the Western Negev to reopen for the first time since October 7, 2023, the Times of Israel reported. According to the report, the affected areas had been closed to civilian movement since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, which triggered the ongoing war and led to the imposition of broad security restrictions in the border area.
Photo from Fars Media Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Islamic_Jihad#/media/File:Training_of_al-Quds_Brigades_snipers_in_Gaza_(05).jpg
