Israel says it intercepted rocket fired from northern Gaza

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israel said on Friday that it intercepted a rocket launched from northern Gaza toward settlements on the border region.

Earlier, air raid sirens sounded in the Israeli settlements of Sderot and Nir Am, adjacent to northern Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli Home Front Command.

“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the communities near the Gaza Strip, a projectile that crossed from the northern Gaza Strip into Israeli territory was successfully intercepted by the air forces,” a military statement said.

The army, however, did not specify the exact location from which the rocket was fired.

For several days, northern Gaza has been the site of Israeli military operations, with residents being urged to evacuate their homes.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,100 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio