Last night, around 7:00 PM, a 'red alert' sounded in several communities in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council area. Minutes later, a rocket was spotted in an open area. There were no casualties and no damage was caused. Two hours later, around 9:00 PM, Palestinian media outlets reported the evacuation of Hamas headquarters for fear of an Israeli response, which was not long in coming.
Over the next few hours, Palestinian media outlets reported air force flights throughout the Strip. Al-Aqsa Radio reported heavy Israeli aircraft activity in western Gaza City. Helicopters were also reported to have entered the Strip's airspace, while at the same time reports were received of fire being fired from IDF watchtowers near the Erez checkpoint toward Gaza, and of the navy firing at Palestinian boats near the Rafah coast.
But all of this was just a prelude to the extensive attacks by IDF aircraft between 12:00 and 1:00 a.m., during which the IDF attacked targets in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, as a result of which the electricity infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip was damaged. A target was also attacked at the entrance to Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as a bridge in the Beit Hanoun area. Hamas sources in Gaza deny that there was an attack in the Khan Yunis area as well, claiming that they were only in the northern Gaza Strip.
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The spokesman for the military wing of Islamic Jihad, Abu Ahmed, responded to the attack: "Islamic Jihad expects Israel to escalate the situation in the West Bank in light of the collapse of the political negotiations, and this will of course also lead to violent resistance from the Palestinian side, including suicide attacks and actions by individuals at checkpoints, because all options are open to the Palestinian resistance in light of Israel's recent escalation in the West Bank and Gaza. We call on all Palestinian factions to jointly coordinate the response.".
The IDF Spokesperson stated: "The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF soldiers and will continue to act with determination and force against any entity that carries out terrorism against the State of Israel. The terrorist organization Hamas is the target and bears responsibility.".
Assisted in preparing the article: Hezki Page
