Gaza Under Fire: Palestinian Resistance Targets Ashkelon Amid Deadly Israeli Bombardment
Ongoing Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions leave hundreds dead, including children, as the humanitarian crisis deepens in the Gaza Strip.
Watan-The Palestinian resistance today, Friday, launched rockets toward the city of Ashkelon, a day after targeting Tel Aviv, while ongoing Israeli bombardment for the fourth consecutive day has resulted in the deaths of several people, including children, in various areas of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said it intercepted two rockets launched from Gaza, while Israeli emergency services announced they had received no reports of injuries from the incident.
The Qassam Brigades—the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)—announced that they had bombarded Ashkelon this afternoon with a rocket barrage in response to Israeli massacres against civilians.
Air raid sirens sounded in Ashkelon less than 24 hours after the Qassam Brigades targeted Tel Aviv with three long-range rockets.
Shortly after the rocket fire, the Israeli army warned residents in areas of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza to evacuate, claiming rockets were being launched from there.
Martyrs and Displacement
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued to bombard residential areas with aircraft and artillery, in parallel with ground incursions in central, southern, and northern parts of the Palestinian enclave.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that the bombing—since dawn today—has resulted in at least 12 martyrs, including six children who were killed in an airstrike on an apartment in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.
Medical sources confirmed to Al Jazeera that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes has risen to 605 martyrs since early last Tuesday.
In addition to Gaza City, Israeli airstrikes also targeted Rafah in the south and Beit Lahia in the north. Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammad Qreiqa said the airstrikes in Beit Lahia coincided with artillery shelling, suggesting a possible Israeli ground incursion into the area.
He added that the shelling caused a wave of displacement from Beit Lahia toward western Gaza City. He also reported that artillery fire from behind the border fence struck the Al-Shuja’iya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.
Israeli artillery also targeted eastern areas of Khan Younis and the Shaboura and Al-Jeneina neighborhoods in Rafah, according to Al Jazeera correspondents.
In central Gaza, Palestinians were injured in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Al-Mughraqa.
Shortly after resuming its assault, the Israeli army announced it had seized control of the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza and had begun ground incursions in the south and north.
Humanitarian Situation
On the humanitarian front, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that its flour supply in Gaza is only enough for distribution over the next six days.
UNRWA official Sam Rose said the duration could be extended by distributing smaller amounts to people, adding that the situation in Gaza is extremely worrying due to the drastic reduction in aid distribution.
He also said that 6 out of the 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme have closed, and that large crowds are gathering in the streets outside the remaining bakeries.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross said today that fewer than half of the Palestinian Red Crescent’s ambulances are operating in Gaza due to fuel shortages.
The humanitarian crisis in the devastated Palestinian enclave is worsening further as the Israeli army continues to close crossings and block the entry of aid.
