Rocket fire from Gaza on Israel resumed on Thursday morning amid unconfirmed reports that some progress was made to achieve a ceasefire between the Jewish state and the terrorist group controlling the coastal enclave. The IDF mounted massive airstrikes on terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip overnight following a rocket barrage on Israel's south and continued to hammer Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets on Thursday.
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Palestinian media reported that Hamas fired an anti-tank guided missile at an Israeli military vehicle near the border, north of Gaza. The vehicle was apparently empty one soldier standing nearby was reportedly lightly hurt.
After a short pause in rocket fire, a fresh barrage was launched at Beersheba, Ofakim and Kiryat Malachi at around 1 a.m. on Thursday morning. Some 80 rockets and mortar shells were fired from Gaza at Israel between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday. Ten projectiles failed to cross the border and hit the Palestinian side of the border, the military said.
Since hostilities erupted on May 10, Gaza terrorists have fired nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel. The Iron Dome defense system has intercepted most of those heading toward populated areas, representing a 90% success rates, according to the IDF.
Israeli casualties so far numbered 13 – a dozen civilians killed in rocket attacks and one soldier, who was killed in a cross-border anti-tank missile attack. Nearly 700 Israelis have been wounded, about a dozen of them seriously.
Late on Wednesday night, Hamas said it was withdrawing from its agreement to a ceasefire through Egyptian mediation, most likely over statements by Israeli officials saying the IDF will not be called off on until it achieves its operational goals.
Senior Hamas figure Mousa Abu Marzouk said on Wednesday night that a ceasefire agreement is expected to take effect within a day or two.
"Allah knows when the mediators will succeed in reaching this equation," Abu Marzouk said, adding, "Mohammed Deif was not injured in the attempts to eliminate him, he is in good condition and he is leading the campaign. Israel also tried to eliminate Yahya Sinwar and Marwan Issa, but they are in good condition."
A senior IDF officer said Wednesday that the military believes Hamas is "trying to have a major success," such as a cross-border attack before it ends the fighting as it is in need of a "victory image" to justify the ruins it has brought on the coastal enclave in what has been its worst clash with Israel since 2014.
A senior officer in the IDF Southern Command told reporters that he believed the military's intelligence capabilities would prevent Hamas from carrying out a large raid, but he could not rule out that a smaller operation was possible.
"I don't think Hamas can do a major surprise ground operation, but it could do a raid," he said, according to the Times of Israel.
IDF officials told Channel 12 News that Hamas was most likely to try to launch a massive rocket salvo at the greater Tel Aviv area after a few days in which it had not fired at the city.
IDF Military Intelligence officials said Wednesday that Gaza's rulers have enough long-range munitions left to fire several more barrages at Tel Aviv.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Wednesday and "discussed efforts to end the violence, which has claimed the lives of Israeli and Palestinian civilians including children," the State Department said.
Blinken noted that "the United States would remain engaged with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and regional stakeholders in the days ahead, and reinforced the message that the US expects to see de-escalation on the path to a ceasefire," it adds.
Meanwhile, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on Wednesday and confirmed Bahrain's support for the Egyptian initiative calling for a truce between the Palestinian and Israeli sides and an immediate ceasefire, Bahrain's state news agency reported.
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