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The IDF Arabic-language spokesperson warned residents of northern Gaza to leave for safety on Tuesday, ahead of strikes following the launch of a rocket to Sderot and surrounding areas earlier in the day.
Rocket sirens were activated on Tuesday morning in the city of Sderot and nearby communities in the Gaza border region. The sirens were triggered by a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, which was intercepted. Reports from Gaza indicated that the rocket was fired from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. Magen David Adom stated that no calls were received regarding casualties or damage.
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Sirens warn of rocket fire to Sderot and surrounding areas on Tuesday
(Photo: Telegram )
The rocket fire occurred during school hours in Sderot. The municipality reported that “educational staff are with the children in protected spaces.” Ehud Cohen, CEO of the “Future for the Otef” movement, commented: “I’m currently in Sderot. The media says there are no casualties, but every rocket siren creates victims because children go back to bedwetting, and we cannot normalize this.” Cohen further criticized the situation, saying, “Is it logical that rockets are fired at us, and we just return to routine? Drizzle is related to weather reports, not to our reality.”
On Monday, IDF issued an unusually broad evacuation order for residents of the Gaza Strip, calling for an evacuation of the entire city of Rafah and several surrounding towns. In a statement from IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee, which was formulated under instructions from the political leadership, residents were told that “IDF is resuming its intense fight to eliminate the capabilities of terror organizations in these areas.” IDF urged residents in the area to move to the Al-Mawasi region. However, at this stage, no large-scale ground operation is planned in Rafah or its surroundings.
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Most of Rafah is now empty of Palestinian residents. IDF’s control of the Philadelphi Corridor has already expanded to about a mile into the destroyed urban areas of the city. In the large, central neighborhoods of Rafah, such as Shabora and Tel al-Sultan, the 14th Brigade and the Givati Reconnaissance Battalion have been conducting raids for over a week with almost no resistance, as all terrorists have fled the area. Soldiers are primarily searching for and dismantling remaining enemy infrastructure.
This limited battalion-level raid, which is not part of the larger divisional-scale operation that has yet to be approved, is now expanding into two additional neighborhoods. However, following the cabinet meeting on Sunday, the political leadership instructed the military to escalate the tone of its public statements, creating the impression that the Gaza Strip is being fully reconquered. This explains the added phrasing about “intense fighting.”