Israeli army claims 4 rockets fired toward Kerem Shalom area

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Israeli army claimed on Saturday that it intercepted one out of four rockets launched from Rafah in southern Gaza towards the illegal settlement of Kerem Shalom, near Rafah city, while the other three fell in open areas.

“Following the sirens that were activated in the Kerem Shalom area a while ago, 4 rocket launches were detected from Rafah,” the army said on X.

The army added, “The air defense fighters (system) managed to intercept one rocket, and the rest fell in an open area, with no injuries reported.”

No Palestinian factions have claimed responsibility for the rocket launches as of 1300GMT.

Kerem Shalom is located in the so-called Eshkol Regional Council (which includes 32 settlements around Gaza), near the Palestinian city of Rafah, and serves as a frontline area for Israeli forces entering Gaza.

The military had earlier ordered 100,000 displaced Palestinian residents in Rafah to evacuate to Al-Mawasi ahead of launching an invasion.

Several countries have already warned Israel against launching a military operation in Rafah, which houses at least 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip following Palestinian resistance group Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,950 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have since been killed, and nearly 78,600 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the conflict, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in Gaza, ordering it to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah as part of additional emergency measures over the war.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala