The IDF made a rare discovery on Monday when it discovered two long-range Hamas missiles, which could have struck deeper within Israeli territory than is typically possible, inside Gaza City.
When the military seized the missiles, they were positioned and ready to launch at central Israel.
There have only been a few instances in which Hamas has claimed to have fired longer-range missiles at Israel since mid-2024. Primarily, it has lost the capacity of firing these at central Israel with any consistency since January 2024.
While Hamas has retained much more limited long-range missile capabilities in Rafah until the May-August 2024 period, once the IDF had invaded that region, the Gaza terrorist group was mainly limited to firing one or two missiles at a time, and usually only at Israeli Gaza border communities.
The IDF’s 401st Brigade discovered the long-range missiles. They were neutralized without casualties.
In addition, the army located a cache of weapons containing explosives, radios, ammunition, and various other weapons.
Meanwhile, following sirens in Netiv Ha’asara, a moshav that is close to the border with Gaza, the IDF confirmed on Tuesday that a missile was fired from northern Gaza into Israeli territory. It fell in an open area with no casualties reported.
Whether the IDF failed to shoot down the missile because it was fired from such close proximity, or if, rather, the Iron Dome forwent shooting it down since its operators could see that it was not going to hit any residential areas, remains unclear.
Hamas has frequently fired one or two short-range missiles at Israeli Gaza border communities, even during the August-September invasion of Gaza City.
The attack on Netiv Ha’asara came as Israel marked the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Nearly two hours later, sirens sounded again in the moshav, with the military announcing that the second round on Tuesday had been a false alarm.