During the night, two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and machine gun fire was fired at southern settlements, and a number of alarms were sounded.
The first shooting took place around 10:30 PM, when an alarm was sounded in the city of Sderot and in the localities of Nirim, Nir Am and Ivim. One rocket fell in the yard of a house in Sderot, when only luckily there were no casualties other than a 70-year-old man who suffered anxiety and sought treatment.
As a result, the IDF attacked targets in the Gaza Strip. According to an IDF spokesman: “Fighting planes attacked a military post and the opening of a terrorist tunnel last night (Thursday) which leads to an underground structure with chemical raw materials used to make rocket engines. The attack will lead to significant damage to the rocket production process in the Gaza Strip.” The IDF added that the Hamas terrorist organization was responsible for what was happening in the Gaza Strip.
Afterwards, southerners were once again forced to flee to the protected areas again. At around 2:30 at night, an alarm was sounded in Sderot and Nirim, and the IDF first reported four launches intercepted by the Iron Dome. Shortly afterwards, the IDF informed us that it was a mistake and in practice one rocket was launched, not 4 as originally reported, and that the launching of the Iron Dome interceptors is under investigation. Another alarm was activated nearby following machine gun fire from the Gaza Strip toward Israel.
In addition, in the early hours of the morning, an IDF spokesman reported that one failed launch had been identified from the Gaza Strip that fell in the Gaza Strip. As a result of the launch, an alert was activated in the widget and in the open area only.
The escalation in the Gaza Strip comes after a tense period in Jerusalem and a severe wave of terrorist attacks in Israeli settlements. Yesterday, before the shooting, the police prevented the participants of the “Flag March” from reaching the Nablus Gate in Jerusalem for fear that this would lead to a security flare-up.
Due to the escalation, a general closure will be imposed from today until 5:00 PM until Saturday evening in the Judea and Samaria area and on the crossings in the Gaza Strip. This was decided after a security situation assessment and in accordance with the guidance of the political echelon.