Hours after IDF soldiers returned to Israel from northern Gaza after completing the first stage of Operation Hot Winter, a Grad missile slammed into an apartment building in central Ashkelon on Monday morning. 16 people were treated for shock as three missiles hit the city.
Moments earlier, six Kassam rockets hit the western Negev. One of the rockets landed in Sderot while another landed in a kibbutz. The other four landed in open areas. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.
On Sunday night, Givati Brigade infantry and Armored Corps battalions completed the first stage of the northern Gaza operation which began over the weekend soldiers who had been operating in the territory returned to Israel. However, IDF sources told Israel Radio that counter-terror operations would continue.
IDF officials said that an estimated 100 Palestinians were killed during the operation and some 90 were arrested. On Sunday, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said that, contrary to media reports, 90 of the Palestinian fatalities were gunmen.
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Beleaguered Hamas leaders on Sunday signaled their willingness to reach a cease-fire with Israel, sources close to Hamas said.
IDF troops combat Gaza terrorists
The sources said Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh sent urgent messages to the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia urging them to work toward ending the IDF military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The sources told The Jerusalem Post that Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders also appealed to Turkey to intervene and convince Israel to halt its offensive.
Hamas’s apparent readiness to reach a cease-fire with Israel is seen by some Palestinians as evidence of the Islamist movement’s concern that it may lose control over the Gaza Strip should the military operations continue.
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