“This once again proves how Hamas purposely builds its military assets in the heart of civilian populations,” the military said, adding that the “IDF has taken precautions to ensure minimizing damage to civilian population.”
As the rocket launches continued the IAF on Sunday also destroyed the homes of Gaza Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Muhammad, who is in charge of the logistics and manpower of Hamas, which “serve as significant terror infrastructure,” the IDF said in a statement.
The IAF carried out airstrikes against several other homes, as well as the offices of the Hamas political bureau’s planning and development head Samah Sarag, the residence of the commander of the Hamas Zeitun Battalion in Gaza City Youssef Abel-Wahab, and the residence of senior Hamas military intelligence official Ahmad Abd El Aal.
Dozens of weapon factories and storage sites in Tzabrah tel Aloha, Sheikh Amodan and Gaza City were struck as well. The military says that those sites were located in the homes of Hamas naval and airborne operatives, anti-tank squads and offensive cyber units.
Approximately 3,150 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel since the beginning of Operation Guardian of the Walls. About 460 fell inside the enclave. The Iron Dome Defense System intercepted some 1,150 rockets which included approximately 90% of those that would have hit populated areas in Israel.
Some 200 rockets were fired towards Israel from 7am-7pm on Monday with 25 landing short in the Gaza Strip. Over 130 rockets were fired toward Israel from the enclave from Saturday night to Sunday morning, with roughly half (55 rockets) launched towards central Israel overnight, sending thousands into shelters in Tel Aviv and several other cities in the Gush Dan region. Sirens were also activated in Beersheba, the West Bank and parts of the Negev.
The barrages continued on Sunday and Monday morning, with rockets slamming into buildings in Ashkelon and Ashdod. In Ashkelon, a rocket scored a direct hit on a synagogue, causing extensive damage. Another rocket reportedly landed near a supermarket in Beersheba during the Sunday afternoon barrage.
No injuries were reported due to direct hits or shrapnel were reported, but dozens were injured while running to bomb shelters. One soldier was transferred to Barzilai Hospital in light-moderate condition after being injured by a mortar shell.
Magen David Adom rescue services said that 10 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the fighting and another 306 have been injured to varying degrees. One soldier has been killed.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, 181 people have been killed since the fighting began, including 52 children and 31 women. Another 1200 have been injured.
IDF SPOKESPERSON Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman on Sunday deflected criticism of the military’s actions in the Gaza Strip, particularly the Saturday bombing of the Al Jala building housing foreign media offices.
“I want to see what would happen if one rocket was fired on Washington. They are firing salvos toward civilian populations,” Zilberman said when asked about the strike on the building that was home to the offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera in Gaza. “We are in the middle of an operation. If Hamas and PIJ think they can hide behind the media, their buildings are not something they can hide behind.”
The IDF said the building held the offices of Hamas’s military intelligence as well as other offices belonging to Islamic Jihad. It has refused requests to reveal the evidence upon which it determined that Hamas was using the office building for terrorist activity, although it said that the US was shown the evidence and reportedly accepted it.
Zilberman said that the military will continue its strikes in the coming days, including the multi-barreled rocket launchers that are being used to launch salvos towards the Jewish state.
The IDF has hit 40-45 of these launchers, which can fire between four and nine medium and long-range rockets every second.
While the IAF has begun to take out these launchers over the past 36 hours, the Israeli public won’t see its results for some time, Zilberman said.
Expecting the fighting to continue for several more days, he warned the Israeli public to continue to seek shelter when rocket sirens are activated.