Monday morning saw the largest rocket barrage fired at southern Israel since January.
By World Israel News Staff
At least 20 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel on Monday morning, marking the largest barrage of its kind wailing and sending air raid sirens railing in numerous towns and agricultural communities.
Sirens were heard in Ein Hashlosha, Kissufim, Nirim, Sufa, Sde Avraham, Dekel, Yated, Holit, and Nir Oz. Nearly all of those communities suffered severe damage in the October 7th terror onslaught, with survivors evacuated in the days immediately following the massacres.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group took responsibility for the launches, which were reported to have originated in the central city of Khan Younes – where Israeli troops had previously cleared out Hamas.
The Iron Dome air defense system shot down a number of the rockets, but some fell in open areas. The Israeli army said that those projectiles did not cause injuries or damage to property, adding that troops were shelling the source of the fire with artillery strikes.
The barrage signifies the largest number of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at adjacent Israeli communities since January.
Some 25 rockets were fired at the city of Netivot, in southern Israel, in January. In May, 10 rockets were fired from Gaza at central Israel.
The timing of the launches is significant, as it comes following numerous statements from Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the army is lowering the intensity of the fighting in the coastal enclave.
On Sunday, just one day before the barrage, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant toured Rafah and said that the Hamas terror group had been so crippled by the Israeli offensive that it will never recover its previous military capabilities.
Hamas’ “fighting spirit is broken and time is not on their side; it is actually working against them,” Gallant said.