Hamas fires rockets at Israel's south

7/4/2025 6:03

Palestinian

militant group Hamas said it fired a barrage of rockets at

cities in Israel's south on Sunday in response to Israeli

"massacres" of civilians in Gaza.



Israel's military said about 10 projectiles were fired, but

most were successfully intercepted. Israel's Channel 12 reported

a direct hit in the southern city of Ashkelon.



Israeli emergency services said they were treating one

person for shrapnel injuries, and teams were en route to

locations of fallen rockets. Smashed car windows and debris lay

strewn on a city street, videos disseminated by Israeli

emergency services showed.



Meanwhile, Gaza local health authorities said Israeli

military strikes killed at least 39 people across the Gaza Strip

on Sunday.



Shortly after the rocket firing, the Israeli military posted

on X a new evacuation order, instructing residents of several

districts in Deir Al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip to

leave their areas, citing earlier rocket firing.



"This is a final warning before the attack," the military

warning statement said.



Later, it said it struck the rocket launcher from which

projectiles were launched earlier from the Gaza Strip.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on



a



flight to Washington for a meeting with U.S. President

Donald Trump, was briefed on the rocket attack by his Defense

Minister, Israel Katz.



A statement issued by his office said Netanyahu

instructed that a "vigorous" response be carried out and

approved the continuation of intensive activity by the Israeli

military against Hamas.



Israel's Channel 12 television said at least 12 lightly

injured people have been treated as a result of the rocket

firing from Gaza, quoting officials at the Bazilai Hospital in

Ashkelon.



The first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

went into force on January 19 after 15 months of war and

involved a halt to fighting, the release of some of the Israeli

hostages held by Hamas, and the freeing of some Palestinian

prisoners.



However, Israel said on March 19 that its forces resumed

ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip. Both

parties blamed one another for a stalemate in the ceasefire

talks.



More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the

Israeli offensive in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.

Israel began its offensive after thousands of Hamas-led

gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7,

2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages,

according to Israeli tallies.