Israel intensifies air strikes on Gaza after Hamas fires rockets at Israeli cities

The National

07-04-2025

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed more than 40 people overnight on Sunday, according to the enclave's civil defence agency, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a 'strong response' to a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas. Hamas said it fired rockets at southern Israel on Sunday evening in response to Israeli 'massacres' of civilians in Gaza. Israel's military said about 10 projectiles were fired, but most were successfully intercepted. Israel's Channel 12 reported a direct hit in the southern city of Ashqelon. Israeli emergency services said they were treating one person for shrapnel injuries while footage showed smashed car windows and debris on the roads. Shortly after the rockets were fired, the Israeli military issued new forced eviction orders for residents in Deir Al Balah, in central Gaza. Mr Netanyahu had pledged a 'strong response' to the rocket attack while on a flight to Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump. More than 40 people, the majority of whom were women and children, were killed in air strikes across the war-ravaged enclave according to Gaza rescue workers. Hamas called the strike 'a deliberate act of child killing' and a 'confirmation of the sadistic and barbaric nature of the occupation and its fascist leaders'. Palestinian media reported on Monday that Israeli air strikes had attacked a tent housing journalists outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Palestinian Journalists Forum condemned the deadly attack that killed one journalist and severely injured another. A ceasefire brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar ended on March 18 as Israel resumed its offensive in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. Gaza has since endured a new wave of relentless air strikes and artillery fire, with dozens of fatalities reported on a near-daily basis. The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of Palestinian groups including Hamas, has called a general strike across the Palestinian Territories for Monday in protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza. The group said that local and international efforts should be united to end the war, and that the strike is intended to raise awareness of the killing of civilians. French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a summit with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II in Cairo on Monday with talks expected to be dominated by the war in Gaza. Egypt, along with Qatar and the US, has been a mediator between Israel and Hamas.