After air strikes on Gaza, Israel has been hit with numerous rockets in return. About a million people have been ordered to go to shelters. Now there are reports of a ceasefire.
According to the Israeli military, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fired more than 200 rockets into Israeli territory. The military said there were around 270 shootings, of which 205 crossed the border into Israel.
A total of 63 missiles were intercepted. The rest landed in an open area, and there were also three impacts in urban areas. In the afternoon, sirens wailed in cities close to the border, but also in the center of Israel and in the greater Tel Aviv area.
A residential building was hit in the town of Sderot. Out of concern about Palestinian rocket attacks, Israel Homeland Security had ordered people in the Gaza Strip to stay nearby or in shelters. This affects more than a million people. Schools in the region were closed today.
Sender reports armistice
In the evening, according to a state television station, Egypt brokered an immediate ceasefire in the region. According to Extra News, Israel has so far only confirmed that Egypt is trying to mediate a ceasefire. You will decide on how to proceed based on the situation on site and not on the basis of explanations. The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad initially did not comment.
Extra News has close ties to Egyptian intelligence agencies, which have repeatedly mediated between Israel and the Palestinians. Shortly after the broadcaster’s report, rockets were again fired at Israel.
At least five Palestinians killed
Before the massive rocket fire during the day, Israel’s air force had previously attacked more than 100 targets in the Gaza Strip, according to the army. Palestinian security sources said several military installations and facilities belonging to the militant Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad had been hit. According to hospital reports, at least five Palestinians were killed, including a 14-year-old boy. About 20 people were injured.
The Israeli air force killed three senior members of Islamic Jihad on Tuesday night. A total of 13 people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes in the coastal strip, including several women and children.
Two members of a militant Palestinian group were also killed in an Israeli attack on a car in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. According to the Israeli army, they are said to have transported a guided anti-tank missile.
Netanyahu threatens heavy attacks on Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to intensify the current attacks in the Gaza Strip. “We are prepared for the possibility of an expansion of the operation and heavy strikes against Gaza,” he told council leaders in the south of the country, according to his office.
The Israeli army justified the military strike with several attacks from the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.
Several groups in the Gaza Strip again announced retaliation. Most recently, Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells into Israeli territory following the death of a Palestinian prisoner last week.
Dead also in the West Bank
There was also renewed violence in the occupied West Bank. There, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in a firefight. The two extremists opened fire on soldiers from a car and were then shot, the military said. The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad said two of their fighters were killed.
The situation in the conflict has been deteriorating again for months. The Israeli military is increasingly conducting raids in the occupied territories, and Palestinians are repeatedly attacking Israelis. Since the beginning of the year, more than 100 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and nationals of other countries have died in this spiral of violence.
With information from Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Studio Tel Aviv