Hamas fires 10 rockets at southern Israel, in largest attack in months
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed to have intercepted most of the missiles with Iron Dome, although there were reports of damage and injuries. This is the largest Hamas attack on Israeli territory in recent months following the terrorist group's refusal to release the hostages.
The Israeli military reported that approximately 10 projectiles, fired from the Gaza Strip in a matter of minutes on Sunday, crossed into Israeli territory, most of which were intercepted. Following the sound of sirens between 9:01 p.m. and 9:02 p.m. (6:01 p.m.-6:02 p.m. GMT) in the Lakhish area, nearly 10 projectiles were identified crossing into the territory from the Palestinian enclave.
Meanwhile, Israeli police said they were operating in an area of Ashkelon, an Israeli city located 56 km south of Tel Aviv, 73 km southwest of Jerusalem and 13 km from the northern border of the Gaza Strip, where an impact had been reported.
For its part, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (EQB), the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, claimed responsibility this Sunday for launching a "rain of rockets" against Israel in response to the "Zionist massacres against civilians." According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), at least ten rockets were identified targeting the city of Ashdod, and most of them were intercepted.
Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Haarezt reported that some of the intercepted fragments fell in the southern cities of Ashkelon and Gava Yavne, damaging vehicles and injuring three people. At this time, no further details have been released regarding the health status of these three individuals.
Rocket fire by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas against southern Israel and sometimes even Tel Aviv was common during the first months of the Gaza war.
In recent weeks, following Israel's violation of the ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have claimed to have launched several rockets at the Jewish state, causing no damage or casualties.
Hamas published proof of life of two hostages
Meanwhile, Hamas released a video on Saturday showing Maxim Herkin and Bar Kupershtein, two Israeli citizens kidnapped on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas attack in southern Israel. The footage represents the first visual evidence of the couple's survival since their capture.
As in other similar propaganda videos released by Hamas during the war, the hostages call on Israeli society to pressure the government to halt the offensive and sign a prisoner release agreement. At the end of the sequence, you can read the phrase: "Only a ceasefire agreement will bring them back alive. Time is running out."
Herkin's family had recognized the young man's voice in a brief preview of the video previously released by the Islamists, in which the faces of the two kidnapped men appear blurred. In the images released this Saturday, he is seen with bandages on one cheek and one hand.
"We're starving here," one of them said in the video, in a statement they asked to be passed on to the Israeli population concerned about their situation. The video release came a day after a renewed Israeli ground offensive in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, the military said, aimed at expanding the security zone.
Abu Obaida, the nom de guerre of a Palestinian militant who serves as a spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (EQB), the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, stated on his Telegram channel that "half of the Israeli hostages who remain alive in Gaza are in areas under evacuation orders issued by Israel" and that they will not be relocated, which would pose an extreme risk to their lives.