The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
Israeli tank said to strike ‘resistance site’ in central Gaza
An Israeli tank targeted a “resistance site” near the Breij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, the Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Center reports.
Islamic Jihad warns it can continue Gaza fighting until Israel is ‘deterred’
The al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad’s military wing, “can direct the battle to the point at which the enemy will become deterred,” Musab al-Breim, a spokesman for the terror group, tells the Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Cneter.
Netanyahu: Israel has ‘surprises’ ready if Gaza rocket fire continues
Prime Minister Netanyahu is warning Hamas and Islamic Jihad that Israel has some fresh “surprises” in store for the terror groups if rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continues.
“Hamas and Islamic Jihad need to understand, this can’t continue,” Netanyahu tells reports in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. “If they don’t stop the [rocket] fire completely, not in a day or today — but at all, we’ll be forced to activate the plan for the wide-scale campaign we prepared.”
He adds: “There are new, surprising things in it.”
Video shows apparent Israeli strike in Khan Younis
The Hamas-linked Shehab publishes footage of what appears to be the Israeli strike on Khan Younis.
— Adam Rasgon
#عاجل| طائرات الاحتلال تشن غارات عنيفة على موقع في خانيونس جنوب قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/CKCywck4Aa— وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) February 24, 2020
Israel strikes Islamic Jihad sites in Gaza
The IDF confirms that it has begun conducting airstrikes against Palestinian Islamic Jihad sites in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-linked Shehab reports that Israeli aircraft carried out a strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, without providing details on what specifically was hit.
Netanyahu holds security consultation with defense chiefs
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding security consultations on the phone with defense chiefs, his office says.
Netanyahu called the mayors of Ashkelon and Sderot, “praised the residents’ strong standing and updated the mayor on the security situation,” the office says.
The Israel Defense Forces launched a series of airstrikes against Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday, after the terror group fired at least 14 rockets at southern Israel earlier in the day, the military said.
Palestinian media reported that Israeli jets bombed an Islamic Jihad base in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The IDF confirmed it was bombing Islamic Jihad sites, but said it would only provide more information about the targets in the future.
Videos posted on social media appeared to show the IDF’s rare daytime strikes on the Khan Younis facility.
In announcing the fresh airstrikes in Gaza on Monday, the IDF notably mentioned only Islamic Jihad, not the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, with which Israel hopes to negotiate a ceasefire agreement. In the past, Israel held Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from the Strip, regardless of which terror group was behind it.
However, the IDF has lately begun to distinguish between Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which Israel believes is responsible for the majority of the violence along the Gaza border in recent months.
Beginning at noon Monday, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired at least 14 rockets at southern Israel, 12 of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, the IDF said.
Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attacks.
One rocket struck an empty playground in the town of Sderot on Monday, causing damage but no injuries, police said. Another rocket appeared to strike an open field outside the community of Nir Am in the Sha’ar Hanegev region, according to local government.
Shrapnel from one of the Iron Dome interceptions also shattered a car windshield in the community of Nir Am, a Sha’ar Hanegev spokesperson said.
The IDF’s high interception rate indicated an impressive performance by the Iron Dome missile defense system and its operators, as well as a high degree of accuracy by terror groups in the Strip. In general, the Iron Dome is only activated when an incoming projectile is heading toward a populated area, rather than an open field where it is unlikely to cause injury or damage.
Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired at least 14 rockets at southern Israel on Monday afternoon, with 12 of them being intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, shattering a tense calm following an intense battle between Israel and terror groups in Gaza and Syria the night before, the military said.
One rocket struck an empty playground in the town of Sderot, causing damage, but no injuries, police said.
Another rocket appeared to strike an open field outside the community of Nir Am in the Sha’ar Hanegev region, according to local government.
Shrapnel from one of the Iron Dome interceptions also shattered a car windshield in the community of Nir Am, a Sha’ar Hanegev spokesperson said.
The IDF’s high interception rate represented an impressive performance by the Iron Dome missile defense system and its operators, as well as a high degree of accuracy by terror groups in the Strip. In general, the Iron Dome is only activated when an incoming projectile is heading toward a populated area, rather than an open field where it is unlikely to cause injury or damage.
There were no physical injuries caused by the rockets. Medics treated one woman who suffered an anxiety attack during the barrage.
The attacks triggered sirens in the town of Sderot, in Sha’ar Hanegev and in the community of Netiv Ha’asara, sending thousands of residents rushing to bomb shelters.
The attack came after Palestinian and Israeli officials exchanged threats of renewed violence throughout Monday morning. On Sunday evening, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups in the Strip launched some 30 rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel, approximately half of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. The rest landed in open fields. Some shrapnel caused light property damage, but no injuries were reported.
Abu Hamza, a spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigade, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad military wing, said Monday that Israel’s strikes on Damascus “will not pass fleetingly,” adding: “The fight is not over.”
Both Defense Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Monday that Israel could begin a major operation to stem rocket fire and other attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border, despite elections a week away.
“We are preparing a plan to fundamentally change the situation in the Gaza Strip,” Bennett told a conference in Jerusalem. “I really understand the situation of the people of the south. They deserve peace and security."
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