Hamas-IDF clashes are ongoing, with Israel announcing a complete siege of Gaza. One of the rockets fired from Gaza in a recent barrage fell near Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport. Footage posted on social media shows smoke billowing from an open field in the area.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galad said he has ordered a "full siege" of the Gaza Strip as Israel battles the Hamas terrorist group.
"I have ordered a full siege of the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed," Galad said after an assessment at the IDF's Southern Command in Beersheba. "We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly," he adds.
The Israel Defense Forces says it has in recent hours struck several sites in the Gaza Strip belonging to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups.
The sites include a Hamas ammunition depot and an entrance shaft to an underground tunnel, as well as two Islamic Jihad war rooms, one of which was inside a mosque.
The IDF says it also struck a Hamas vehicle that was attempting to infiltrate into Israel. The army released footage of the strikes.
The army also says it intercepted a drone that was launched from Gaza towards Israel.
Earlier, an alert was raised for a drone infiltration in the southern city of Gwaram. Rocket alarms sounded in various locations across Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the central Shfella area and cities around Gaza. Residents of Jerusalem report hearing at least one interception over the city.
There are also reports of clashes in an open area in Tel Aviv and on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says its medics are scanning the area following reports of rocket collisions in the center, but is not aware of any injuries at this stage.
The IDF's top spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, threatens the Hamas leadership. "Yahya Sinwar is the commander of the campaign and he is dead," Hagari said at a press conference. Hamas' "military and political leadership, all its assets, are accessible and condemned," he added.
According to him, Israeli troops have regained control of all towns on the Gaza border. He says the incidents of clashes between troops and Palestinian terrorists in recent hours have been "isolated".
Hagari says that in the Shaar Hanegev district council three terrorists were killed by troops, in Be'eri one, in Holit and Sufa five and in Alumim four.
He says there is currently no fighting in any of the towns. "It is possible that there are still terrorists in the area," Hagari warns.
Hagari says violations of the Gaza border barrier will of course be secured by tanks, supported by war helicopters and drones.
He says the army has evacuated 15 of the 24 towns on the border and will continue evacuating the rest the following day. Sderot will not be evacuated at this stage, he says.
Hagari says some 4,400 rockets have been fired into Israel since the fighting began Saturday morning.
As for the mobilization of reservists, Hagari says the IDF "has never mobilized so many reservists so quickly - 300,000 reservists in 48 hours."
