IDF calls to evacuate Beit Hanoun after rocket barrage

There has been an uptick in rockets from Gaza after months of quiet, with 43 rockets launched from the Strip at Israel since Friday.

By Joshua Marks, JNS

The Israeli military issued an urgent call early Wednesday for noncombatants to evacuate the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza following rocket fire the previous day on Sderot and Ashkelon.

The call also went out to those in the Manshiyya and Sheikh Zayed neighborhoods.

“Hamas and terrorist organizations are firing rockets from your area toward the State of Israel. The IDF will act forcefully and immediately against them,” tweeted Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab Media Branch in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

“For your own safety, evacuate immediately to the known shelters in the center of Gaza City,” he continued.

There has been an uptick in rockets from Gaza after months of quiet, with 43 rockets launched from the Strip at Israel since Friday.

IAF strikes weapons factory in humanitarian zone

The Israel Air Force on Tuesday struck a Hamas and Islamic Jihad weapons production facility embedded in the humanitarian area of Deir al-Balah, the IDF said on Wednesday.

Ground troops are also continuing counterterror operations in Rafah and in central Gaza.

Over the past 24 hours, the IAF struck dozens of terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip.

Hamas fired rockets at Israel from next to aid warehouses

Over the past week, the IDF said that Hamas fired dozens of rockets at Israeli communities from launchers embedded next to two humanitarian aid and distribution warehouses in the southern Gaza Strip.

The warehouses are run by international organizations, including UNRWA, and are used to distribute aid to the civilian population of Gaza.

“The IAF conducted precision strikes on the launch sites. At the conclusion of the strike, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of additional weapons in the area,” the military said.