WarSclerotic

IDF says it has struck 40 Gaza targets in response to latest rocket salvo

The Israeli military says it has targeted some 40 additional sites throughout the Gaza Strip in response to ongoing rocket and mortar attacks from the coastal enclave.

In a statement, the IDF says the targets include tunnels and underground bunkers, military bases, weapons factories and rocket launching sites.

In addition, the military targeted a number of weapons caches that it says were hidden inside the homes of Hamas operatives “deliberately near civilian populations.”

“The IDF strikes continue,” the army says.

— Judah Ari Gross

Woman critically injured in Kibbutz Erez as rocket from Gaza hits vehicle

An Israeli woman is critically injured in a direct hit on his car in the community of Kibbutz Erez, east of the northern Gaza Strip, the United Hatzalah emergency service says.

Hamas ministry says 2 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says two people are killed in an Israeli artillery strike east of Gaza City.

— Judah Ari Gross

Rocket said to damage hospital in Ashkelon

Reports say a rocket fired by Palestinian terror groups in Gaza landed near the city’s Barzilai hospital, with shrapnel hitting part of its oncological building wing.

There are no reports of injuries.

Fresh rocket alarms sound in Israeli communities as IDF continues to strike Gaza

A fresh round of incoming rocket sirens sound in the community of Kerem Shalom east of the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military says one of its attack helicopters targeted a “terrorist operative” in the northern Gaza Strip.

— Judah Ari Gross

MDA says 1 critically injured, 1 seriously and 1 moderately in Ashkelon rocket

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says one person was critically injured, one seriously and a third moderately in the direct hit on an Ashkelon factory.

A 40-year-old man and a 22-year-old man sustained shrapnel wounds throughout their bodies. The 22-year-old, who is unconscious, is in critical condition. A 50-year-old man is also moderately hurt by shrapnel, with injuries to his lower body and legs, MDA says.

— Judah Ari Gross

PLO official: Israel targeting ‘defenseless civilians’ for political gains

Senior Palestinian Liberation Organization official Hanan Ashrawi says Israel is conducting retaliatory strikes on terror-related targets in the Gaza Strip “for political gains.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assault campaign is a cynical attempt to inflict pain on and terrorize the captive Palestinians of Gaza for political gains during his coalition negotiations. Targeting defenseless civilians is criminal and morally reprehensible and must be condemned unequivocally,” she claims in a statement posted on a PLO website.

— Raphael Ahren

Rocket lands in residential neighborhood of Beersheba

A rocket fired by terror groups in Gaza lands inside a residential neighborhood of Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel.

Reports say nobody has been injured.

Man critically injured, two moderately in rocket attack on Ashkelon factory

One man is critically injured following a direct hit on a factory in the city of Ashkelon, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service and media reports.

Two more people are said to be moderately hurt in the attack.

— with Judah Ari Gross

Rocket from Gaza directly hits factory in Ashkelon, injuring several

A factory in the city of Ashkelon is reportedly directly hit by an incoming projectile, injuring three or four people inside, two of them seriously.

Emergency responders are en route to the site.

— Judah Ari Gross

Rocket sirens blare in Beersheba, Rehovot, Ashkelon, Arad

Rocket sirens sound in the cities of Beersheba, Asheklon, Yavne, Arad and Rehovot and in the surrounding communities as terror groups in the Gaza Strip continue firing large fusillades at southern Israel.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

— Judah Ari Gross

Barrage of rockets fired at Ashkelon; Iron Dome intercepts some

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip fire a large barrage toward the city of Ashkelon and the surrounding area, triggering multiple rounds of rocket sirens.

In response to the ongoing attacks, the Israeli military is conducting airstrikes against targets throughout the Strip connected to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.

Iron Dome air defense systems are activated above the city of Ashkelon, with several interceptor missiles fired at incoming projectiles.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

— Judah Ari Gross

Rocket said to land next to home in Hof Ashkelon area; no injuries reported

One of the rockets fired in the previous barrage from the Gaza Strip reportedly lands in the yard of a home in the Hof Ashkelon region, south of the city of Ashkelon.

No injuries are reported.

— Judah Ari Gross

Another round of rocket alarms sound in Israeli communities

A fresh round of rocket sirens sound in the Sha’ar Hanegev and Sdot Negev regions of southern Israel, the army says.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

— Judah Ari Gross

Netanyahu declares ‘special status’ in areas around Gaza for first time since 2014

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares the area around the Gaza Strip to have a “special status,” a legal designation that gives the government additional powers in order to protect the lives of civilians.

“As I am convinced that there is a reasonably high chance that an attack against the civilian population will take place, I am declaring this special status for the Gaza periphery at a radius of 0 to 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu writes in the official declaration.

This designation will last for 48 hours unless renewed.

Under Israel’s 1951 Civil Defense Law, this special classification gives local and national government the ability to override normal laws in the case of an emergency, including forcing people to work to ensure critical services like water and electricity are delivered to residents. The military is also granted the ability to give orders to the civilian population in order to keep them out of harm’s way.

Israel last used this provision of the 1951 Civil Defense Law during the 2014 Gaza war.

— Judah Ari Gross