Israel Calls on Palestinians to Evacuate Beit Hanoun Following Rocket Attacks

Jerusalem, 7 August, 2024 (TPS) -- Israel called on Palestinians in Beit Hanoun to evacuate on Wednesday morning following rocket attacks on Sderot and Ashkelon from the northern Gaza town.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the Israel Defense Force’s Arabic-language spokesman, tweeted a list of zones to be evacuated, instructing residents to take shelter in Gaza City. The army has assessed that frew than 200,000 Palestinian civilians are currently in northern Gaza.

“Hamas and terrorist organizations are firing rockets from your area towards the State of Israel. The IDF will act forcefully and immediately against them,” Adraee tweeted.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired three rockets from northern Gaza at Ashkelon and Sderot on Tuesday. One was shot down and the other two landed in open areas. No casualties or damage were caused.

The army on Tuesday temporarily closed a road used for delivering humanitarian aid after five soldiers were injured by Hamas fire. The corridor leads from the Kerem Shalom border crossing northward to Gaza City.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 115 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.