Rocket barrage targets Ashdod, triggers sirens across southern regions
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said on Sunday evening that it shelled the Israeli city of Ashdod, southern Israel, with a rocket barrage in response to “Zionist massacres” against civilians in Gaza.
“We bombarded the occupied city of Ashdod with a rocket salvo in retaliation for the Zionist massacres against civilians,” an Al-Qassam statement said.
Following the attack, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported air raid sirens sounding in several areas adjacent to Gaza.
Israel's Channel 12, meanwhile, added that sirens also blared in Ashdod, Ashkelon, and the Shfela region south of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that air raid sirens were activated across southern Israel, though it did not report casualties or damage.
“Following the sirens that sounded in the Lakhish area, approximately 10 projectiles were identified crossing into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Most of them were successfully intercepted,” a military statement said.
One of the rockets fired from Gaza directly struck the city of Ashkelon, Israel Hayom daily reported.
Emergency responders from Magen David Adom have inspected four locations where intercepted rockets landed, Yedioth Ahronoth added.
Israel's national ambulance service said one person in Ashkelon was lightly wounded by shrapnel from a rocket that struck the city.
The organization added that others suffered minor injuries while rushing to shelters in Ashkelon and other areas where air raid sirens sounded.
Last weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to escalate attacks on Gaza as efforts are underway to implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave.
Nearly 50,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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