Tel Aviv apartment building hit by rocket as region targeted in successive barrages

Israel Defense Forces reports that overnight, Shayetet 13 commando troops from the Israeli Navy carried out an attack on the southern Gaza Strip.

IDF claims that the forces operated within a compound where the naval commando force of Hamas used to operate.

The IDF says that other Navy forces took part in the mission and that all Shayetet 13, commandos, left the area after the operation and returned to Israel.

In a statement released earlier today, the Hamas terrorist group claimed that it had repelled an Israeli raid on the sea.

Hamas’ health ministry, which is run by the Hamas government in Gaza, says that 7,326 Palestinians have died in the Palestinian territories since the outbreak of the war with Israel in October.

A ministry statement says that the latest death toll also includes 3,038 child victims.

US President Joe Biden questioned the death toll this week, including combatants, terrorists who crossed into Israel and killed people at home, as well as those killed by Palestinian rockets that misfired.

The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees says that the death toll numbers of Hamas have been “credible” during previous conflicts.

UNRWA’s chief Philippe Lazzarini earlier told reporters that the figures of the previous five or six conflict cycles in Gaza Strip were considered credible. No one had ever questioned them.

Peretz Omer, Tel Aviv Police Chief, says that two people have been injured by a rocket attack on an apartment. One was moderately injured and the other lightly injured. However, police are still unable to enter the building to ensure there is no one else trapped.

He claims that the rocket caused damage to both an apartment on the top floor and one below.

Omer asked that the large crowds who came to see the site not come back. Instead, they should stay away and watch it on TV.

When Mayor Ron Huldai arrives at the scene he tells rubberneckers and other people to keep away.

He said that schools will only be opened in areas where shelters are available, and rocket sirens are a common occurrence.

The National Cyber Directorate and the Police advise people to not answer WhatsApp calls coming from foreign numbers, as they may be an attempt to hack into phones.

According to the authorities, Israelis are being inundated with calls that include video calls.

As of this writing, at least one call came from an area code in Toledo, Ohio to the Times of Israel telephone number.

Police advise not to call them or answer them.

The Cyber Directorate points out that simply answering the call will not cause a phone to be hacked or damaged. The cyber directorate says that the problem is being reported by Meta, WhatsApp parent company.

WhatsApp users are asked to set their privacy settings so that calls from unknown numbers will be muted.

Magen David Adom reports that the second barrage of rockets launched toward Tel Aviv, and other areas to the south and east has not caused any injuries. However, a few people were injured while trying to run into bomb shelters.

Channel 12 reports that two rockets landed in open areas close to Ashdod without causing any damage or injury.

A rocket is also reported to have hit a walkway in a Tel Aviv park. The video shows the damage done to the sidewalk, including scorch marks.

Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades claim responsibility for the second barrage that targeted the Tel Aviv region in less than 30 minutes, after having also claimed the first.

It says: “The al-Qassam Brigades have renewed their bombing of Tel Aviv as a response to Zionist mass murders against civilians.”

Tel Aviv and the Shfela area (Judean Lowlands) southeast of the city are experiencing a siren-like sound.

Alerts also include suburbs to the east of Tel Aviv.