10:15 p.m
Earlier today, IDF aircraft attacked two additional operational headquarters of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. The headquarters were used by some of the organization’s operators to plan and control the organization’s rocket fire in the Gaza Strip.
22:03
Palestinian report: Israel attacked a little while ago in Khan Yunis and Beit Hanun.
20:21
After more than an hour of silence, the color red in Gaza.
20:55
IDF warplanes and aircraft attacked about 15 rocket launchers and mortars of the Islamic Jihad throughout the Gaza Strip in the last few hours.
From the launchers that were attacked, rockets and mortars were fired at Israeli territory in recent days.
20:26
Egypt submitted a new proposal for a ceasefire, both Israel and the Islamic Jihad are considering it.
20.00
The organizers of the protest in Kaplan announced the postponement of the demonstration planned for tomorrow to next week due to the security situation. On their behalf it was reported that they “have been in close contact with the Israel Police and the security forces in recent days, when the consideration before our eyes is maintaining the safety of the demonstrators.”
They added that “Our first concern is always for the safety of our people who defend democracy. Therefore, out of responsibility for the peace of our people, we decided to postpone the demonstration for a week. We continue to have our finger on the pulse, if it seems that the government is promoting changes related to the coup d’état, we will take to the streets of Israel with all our strength.’
19:26
Earlier today, IDF aircraft attacked two operational headquarters of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, which are used to plan and control the rocket fire of the terrorist organization’s rocket unit in the Gaza Strip.
The headquarters were used by several senior members of the organization, including Amer Abu Tir, an operative in the Islamic Jihad’s rocket unit in the Khan Yunis area.
19:15
Fall in an open area in the Ashkelon Beach Regional Council, no casualties
19:06
Barrage in the direction of Gaza.
19:02
Red color in Ashkelon, Netivot and the Gaza Strip.
18:45
Falls in a settlement in the Eshkol Regional Council, close to residences and public buildings. There is damage to property. There are no injuries to the body.
Since this morning, seven rockets have fallen in the same village, two from the barrage in the last hour. A total of 13 firecrackers in the same settlement as of yesterday.
18:26
In a joint operation with the Shin Bet, the IDF attacked and thwarted in a hiding apartment, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, Iyad al-Hasani, commander of the organization’s operations portfolio in the entire Gaza Strip. Alhassani, led the operations portfolio in the organization and as part of this was a significant figure in the organization’s combat management and decision-making. Along with him, another GAP activist was foiled.
In the last few days and in addition to his duties, Alhassani replaced Khalil Bahitini, who was foiled on the first day of the “Protection and Arrow” operation, in his position as director of combat in the Gaza Strip.
Alhassani was responsible for establishing direct contact with the senior members of the GAP organization, and maintained continuous contact with all the formations in the Gaza Strip. Alhassani is a key figure in the organization, who was involved in all decisions concerning the rocket fire and rocket barrages carried out by the organization towards the State of Israel. By virtue of his position, he was also responsible for the barrages towards the State of Israel in recent days.
Alhassani was a key partner in planning offensive lines with the aim of harming the residents of the State of Israel and was a significant figure in the organization’s readiness for combat.
17:39
Since the start of Operation Shield and Arrow and until 4:00 p.m., the Islamic Jihad launched 973 launches, 761 of which crossed into Israel and 296 were intercepted. At the same time, 181 launches fell in the Gaza Strip – 18.6%.
17:07
After the attack in Gaza, the Islamic Jihad issued a statement: the enemy’s rear will receive further attacks in response to the damage and destruction of residential homes.
16:51
Palestinian reports of an attack on an apartment in a high-rise building in Gaza.
The Prime Minister will hold a situation assessment at 18:00 during which he is supposed to approve additional measures.
Red color in the Gaza Strip.
15:32
An IDF aircraft recently attacked a mortar launching position of the Islamic Jihad in the northern Gaza Strip, from which mortars were launched yesterday into the territory of the State of Israel.
In addition, a combat helicopter attacked a military position of the Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip and the organization’s rocket launchers throughout the Strip.
At the same time, alarms were sounded in the Gaza Strip.
2:30 p.m
Hamas Information Ministry: The power plant in Gaza may stop operating within 72 hours due to the lack of fuel supply.
14:10
--Due to the security situation, the Home Front Command established the following guidelines for managing the emergency routine until tomorrow at 20:00.
In the Gaza Strip, educational activities must not be held. Special education activities can be held in a place from which you can reach a standard protected space during the defense.
Gatherings and services are allowed with a limit of up to ten people in an open area and up to 50 people in a building. The beaches are closed to the public. Workplaces can be activated in a place from which you can reach a standard protected space during the defense.
West Lachish, West Negev, Lachish, Central Negev – educational activities are not allowed. Special education activities can be held in a place from which you can reach a standard protected space during the defense.
Gatherings and services can be held with a limit of up to ten people in an open area and up to 100 people in a building. The beaches are closed to the public.
Workplaces can be activated in a place from which you can reach a standard protected space during the defense.
In fact, this is an extension of the existing restrictions to a distance of 40 km until tomorrow evening.
In the rest of the country – full activity. There are no restrictions on holding educational activities, activities at workplaces and gatherings and services.
Increase in requests for mental help
A 550% increase in calls to Tel Aviv against the background of “Operation Magen and Arrow”, out of hundreds of calls since the direct hit on the streets.
The helpline of the NTL association 1800-363-363 works in an enhanced format.
The line provides mental assistance to anyone who feels pressure, anxiety and needs support and mental assistance following the ongoing security tensions.
14:04
Senior Islamic Jihad officials to the “Al-Hadath” network: We were not told that Israel stopped negotiations on a ceasefire. The Egyptian mediators submitted a proposal for a ceasefire and are waiting for Israel’s answer. If the Israeli escalation continues, we will not stop until the parade of flags.
Sources informed Al-Hadath: The ceasefire negotiations failed due to Israel’s refusal to stop the targeted killings. Egypt is thinking of reducing its involvement in the negotiations, but the reports about the termination of the negotiations are not true.”
Report in “Al-Arabiya”: Egypt is considering reducing its involvement in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and the Islamic Jihad. According to the report, Egypt thinks that Israel did not abide by the agreement reached on Friday morning.
13:32
Hamas spokesman, Hazem Kassem: “The united resistance fulfills its duty in defending our people against the ongoing Israeli aggression. The Israeli occupation will not succeed in breaking our will to resist.”
The military arm of the Islamic Jihad: “We promised and kept it, there are no red lines.”
13:10
Shrapnel fell in two locations in Beit Shemesh. There are no casualties.
As a result of the latest rocket barrage, damage was found to a house in Kibbutz Nir Am. The house was empty. There are no physical injuries, there is damage to property.
12:58
Fighter jets recently attacked four military outposts of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, one of which is used by the commander of the organization’s Rafah Brigade. Also, an aircraft attacked a mortar launching position of the terrorist organization in the southern Gaza Strip.
In addition, this morning an IDF aircraft attacked the firing range in the south of the Gaza Strip from where the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired rockets at the Gaza Strip.
12:45
A volley of missiles was fired at Sderot and the surrounding area. The Sderot municipality asked residents to stay near a protected area.
A direct hit to a house in Sderot, no injuries.
12:15
For the first time since the operation began: red color alarms in Gush Etzion, Mate Yehuda and Beit Shemesh. Red color also in Sderot and in the settlements surrounding Gaza. For the first time since then, the marker has set off alarms in Gush Etzion and Beit Shemesh.
The IDF is now attacking Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip.
11:09
Red color alarms in Nir Yitzhak, Sofa, Holit, Seda Avraham, Eshkol and Netiv Hatara.
About 15 rockets were fired in the barrage to Eshkol, one fell inside a greenhouse outside the settlement. All others were intercepted.
7:50
A senior Egyptian official interviewed by the BBC said that the negotiations between Israel and Islamic Jihad on a cease-fire have encountered another obstacle.
7:40
A quiet night passed over the residents of the south, while, according to Palestinian reports, the IDF continued to attack targets of the Islamic Jihad. At the same time, in Egypt it was reported that the mediators were optimistic about the possibility of reaching a cease-fire agreement in the coming hours. Beyond that, both Al-G The Qatari “Zira” and the Arabic BBC network reported that the senior Islamic Jihad sent to Cairo, Muhammad Al-Hindi, is handling the ceasefire proposal he received from the mediators.
The attacks, which continued throughout the night according to Palestinian reports, were carried out after a situation assessment held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Defense Minister Yoav Galant and other senior officials. The two praised the IDF and the Shin Bet for the achievements in the “Shield and Arrow” operation and instructed them to continue to exact a heavy price from the Islamic Jihad for its aggression against the citizens of Israel. The Prime Minister’s Office also stated that the campaign will continue as long as necessary. Until 20:00 last night, the Islamic Jihad had launched 803 rockets since the beginning of the “Shield and Arrow” operation, of which 620 crossed into Israeli territory and 152 fell in the territory of the Gaza Strip – about 19% On the other hand, Israel attacked 191 targets of the Islamic Jihad until that time.
The assessment of the situation was carried out after the most difficult event on the Israeli side since the start of the operation: the direct hit on the streets in which a woman was killed. At the Kaplan Hospital in the city, we informed that 16 patients were brought there, 14 of them were discharged and two were hospitalized in a minor condition for further treatment and follow-up.
According to Palestinian reports, the Air Force attacked Beit Hanun in the north of the Gaza Strip, Deir al-Balah and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, and Rafah in the south. Although Hamas has not yet joined the fighting in the “Shield and Arrow” operation, the terrorist organization’s spokesman Hazem Kassem attacked the international community in a statement. According to him, the silence demonstrated by the countries of the world regarding the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip “are an encouragement for Israel to escalate its aggression”. At the same time, the Hamas police warned 40 citizens in the Gaza Strip against publishing “fake news” on social networks.
The concern of Hamas
Hamas is concerned about the economic situation in the Gaza Strip, which is getting worse as the operation continues. Immediately upon the outbreak of the operation, the coordinator of government operations in the territories, Major General Rasan Aliyan, announced the closure, until further notice, of the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings for the movement of fetuses and goods from the Gaza Strip to Israel – and vice versa. We will recall that last September, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz increased the number of work and trade permits for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip by 1,500 to 17,000.
General Aliyan’s decision is a lever of pressure on Hamas because the unemployment rate in Gaza was 45.3% in 2022, more than three times the situation in Judea and Samaria (13.4%). These disparities are explained by the large disparity between the scope of the employed in Israel. At a time when 22.5% of the working Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria were employed in Israel, only 0.8% of the working residents of the Gaza Strip were employed in Israel, according to the World Bank.
The importance of Palestinian workers entering Israel in general, and those entering from Gaza in particular, to the Palestinian economy is great because the monthly wage gap between the Gaza Strip and Israel is large: the average salary in the Gaza Strip is NIS 1,300-1,200 compared to NIS 7,000 for a worker working in Israel – 5.3 times. Beyond the wages of the workers, the closing of the crossings also affects the transfer of goods, after the regulations for the transfer of textile and agricultural products were eased last year. The Palestinian economy entered 2023 in a difficult situation, after slowing down from 7% growth in 2021 to 3.9% last year. According to the World Bank, Palestinian growth will be around 3% in the coming years.
The Palestinians, like most of the world, face an ever-increasing consumer price index. In March, the annual inflation rate grew to 4.32%, the highest rate since October. The main “fuelers” of inflation were the transport sector (6.8%) and tobacco (4.1%).
According to the UN, 80% of the residents of the Gaza Strip rely on humanitarian aid, more than half of them live below the poverty line and close to 80% of the young people are unemployed. Therefore, UNRWA issued a statement last night in the shadow of the situation. “We are currently verifying the number of Palestinian refugees who were killed or injured,” UNRWA said. The current escalation is already harming the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, including women and children.”
The IDF spokesman apologizes on CNN
An interesting development regarding the IDF that is not related to what is happening in the Gaza Strip happened on the CNN channel. There, for the first time since the death of “Al Jazeera” journalist Shireen Abu Aqla in Jenin – IDF spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari apologized for The event – on the anniversary of her death.
“I think it is necessary to say that we are very sorry for the death of Shirin Abu Aqla,” said Brigadier General Hagari in a way that does not imply two faces. “She was a journalist. In Israel we cherish democracy and in democracy journalism is very important and in free communication. We want journalists to feel safe in Israel. Especially during a war, even if they criticize us.” In doing so, Brigadier General Hagari, who took office two months ago, completely changed the line presented by his predecessor in the position, the IDF spokesman at the time of Abu Aqla’s death – Brigadier General Ran Kochav.
