Israeli air defenses intercepted a rocket launched toward the Jewish state’s southern communities from Gaza on Sunday morning.

The attack triggered air-raid alerts in Moshav Shtulim and Nitzan, as well as in areas of the nearby city of Ashdod, sending up to 65,000 Israeli civilians running for bomb shelters.

Rockets from the Gaza Strip last targeted Ashdod five months ago.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that “following the alerts activated a short time ago in the Lakhish and Ashdod areas, two launches were identified crossing from the northern Gaza Strip. The Air Force intercepted one target, and the second fell in an open area.” No casualties were reported.

Israel’s Magen David Adom medical response group also stated that its emergency hotline did not receive calls regarding impacts or casualties.

On Sept. 7, Palestinian terrorists also fired two rockets at Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. One projectile was intercepted by air defenses while the second hit in an open area near the border.

Air-raid sirens were activated in eight communities near the border, including in the city of Netivot, sending some 60,000 civilians scrambling for bomb shelters, according to the military’s Home Front Command.

It was the first time rockets were fired from the enclave in around three weeks, with the previous incident recorded on Aug. 17.

Hamas fires on U.N. teams, blocks humanitarian route

Hamas terrorists on Saturday fired at a United Nations team working to open a new humanitarian route at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

“The terrorists took over UN vehicles and used them to place a sand barrier on the route in order to prevent future movement of aid trucks into the humanitarian area,” COGAT said in an X post with pictures of U.N. vehicles showing damage from the shooting.

The new route was part of the humanitarian component of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots II” and was scheduled to open in the coming days to increase the number of aid trucks reaching the humanitarian zone, including food, medical equipment, tents and shelter supplies for residents moving south from Gaza City for their protection.

“Hamas proves time and again that it has no interest in the well-being of the residents of the Gaza Strip, but only in its terrorist motives. Even as the State of Israel works together with the UN and international organizations to expand the scope of humanitarian aid, Hamas is desperate to thwart this, thereby once again abandoning the residents it claims to represent and enslaving them to ensure its survival,” said the head of COGAT, Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian.

“I strongly condemn the attack on UN workers by Hamas. We will not allow Hamas to once again create false narratives of a crisis in the Gaza Strip, and we will continue to expose its cruelty,” he added.

“Hamas fired on UN teams and stole aid and food intended for babies in the Gaza Strip. While the State of Israel allows humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, Hamas prevents it in order to sustain its murderous terrorist regime. The world must see the truth.” Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon wrote on X.

Israeli forces deepen operations in Gaza City

Israeli troops are continuing to expand activities in the last Hamas terror stronghold in Gaza City after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Tuesday that ground forces had begun the second phase of “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” in the area.

The IDF on Saturday eliminated Majed Abu Salmiya, a member of Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.

“As part of his role, Abu Salmiya operated as a sniper for Hamas and was preparing to carry out an imminent terror attack against IDF troops in the Gaza City area,” the military said, emphasizing that steps were taken before the strike to minimize civilian casualties, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.

Israeli forces eliminated terrorists, dismantled military infrastructure sites and uncovered hidden explosives over the past 24 hours, according to a Thursday IDF update.

Air support was called in to eliminate an armed terror cell threatening troops. In a separate incident, an airstrike targeted a structure with several terrorists and weapons inside.

IDF troops are also active in other areas of the northern Gaza Strip and in Rafah and Khan Yunis in the south. One one incident in the north, naval forces fired on a terrorist who posed a threat to troops. In the south, troops located an observation operations room with Hamas terrorists inside. An Israeli Air Force craft struck and destroyed the structure, eliminating the terrorists.

The IDF on Saturday said that more than 120 terror sites in the Gaza City area had been targeted in recent days, including “military” structures, terrorists and observation posts. Division 98 forces killed more than 30 terrorists and are establishing an envelope to evacuate the population south for its protection, according to the military.

Furthermore, forces located submachine guns, ammunition in civilian buildings, tunnel shafts, underground shelters and cameras used by terrorists to monitor and gather intelligence on the maneuvering forces.

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