Middle East: 20 rockets from Gaza – Israel fires back

According to its army, Israel was attacked by around 20 rockets from the Gaza Strip. Some were intercepted by the missile defense system, others hit open terrain. There were no injuries, the army stressed. In places near the border with the Gaza Strip, there was an air raid warning and people had to rush to shelters within minutes.

Israeli media spoke of one of the most violent attacks in some time. The army said the rocket launch sites were fired upon by Israeli artillery. The reports could not initially be independently verified.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that terrorists from Hamas and other groups carried out in Israel on October 7 last year. In the first few months, Israel was attacked with thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip, including more distant targets such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Since the Israeli army occupied large parts of the Gaza Strip and destroyed hundreds of rocket launch pads, such attacks have become rare. The last rocket alert in Tel Aviv was weeks ago.

According to the army, Israeli ground troops continued to operate against armed extremists in the Shejaiya residential area of ​​Gaza City. A large number of opponents were killed and large quantities of weapons were found. In dozens of air force attacks, around 20 other opponents were killed and workshops and warehouses for weapons were destroyed. In the city of Rafah in the south of the coastal strip, the air force attacked a terrorist who had fired an anti-tank missile at Israeli soldiers.