JERUSALEM \ GAZA CITY

The Israeli military announced on Monday evening that it intercepted two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip targeting the Sderot settlement and adjacent areas.

“Following the sirens that sounded at 19:02 in the communities near the Gaza Strip, two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip were intercepted by the IAF (air force),” it said in a statement.

Earlier, the army reported that sirens had been activated in Sderot and surrounding regions.

Israel’s Army Radio noted this was the first time sirens had blared in Sderot since the ceasefire in Gaza ended, adding that the rockets originated from northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said it fired a salvo of rockets toward Israeli settlements near Gaza, including Sderot, Netiv HaAsara, and Zikim.

On Friday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, announced it shelled Ashkelon with rockets, while the Israeli military said it intercepted two projectiles launched from northern Gaza toward the southern coastal city bordering the strip.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing at least 730 people and injuring nearly 1,200 others despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 113,200 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.