The IDF struck some 100 terror targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Monday and rockets fired from the coastal territory continued to set off red alert sirens in communities across the South as Israel's security cabinet met to discuss the latest cease-fire initiatives.
According to the IDF Spokesman's Office, underground rocket launching sites, weapons-smuggling tunnels, Hamas command posts and weapons storage facilities were targeted in the strikes.
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The IDF also targeted the National Islamic Bank which Hamas uses to pay its employees. According to Al Jazeera, four people were injured in the IDF strike on the bank.
Just after midnight four rockets landed in the Ofakim area and approximately two hours later red alert sirens were sounded in Ashkelon, Sderot, the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, Kiryat Gat and the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks.
The government agreed to briefly hold off on sending ground forces into Gaza in order to allow time for cease-fire efforts in Cairo to continue, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
Efforts to reach a cease-fire deal, taking place in Cairo, were expected to continue on Tuesday as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was scheduled to arrive in Jerusalem.
The Israel Air Force has struck more than 1,400 targets in Gaza since Operation Pillar of Defense, entering its seventh day on Tuesday, began with the targeted killing of Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari last Wednesday. Gaza officials claim 109 Palestinians have been killed in IDF strikes.
MDA forces have dealt with over 252 casualties since the beginning of the Gaza operation, including three killed by a rocket in Kiryat Malachi and 21 injured as a result of falling shrapnel.
The Iron Dome has intercepted more than 350 rockets in total since the start of the operation.
CNN reported on Monday that the US Navy is returning warships to the eastern Mediterranean in the event that US citizens in Israel will need to be evacuated if the Gaza conflict intensifies.
Two US officials said that an evacuation is a remote possibility and that US citizens interested in leaving Israel now can do so via commercial flights.
"This is due diligence. It is better to be prepared should there be a need," CNN quoted a US official as saying.
The USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall had been en route from the eastern Mediterranean to the US for the Thanksgiving holiday before they were given the order to turn back around, according to the report.
Tovah Lazaroff and Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.
According to the IDF Spokesman's Office, underground rocket launching sites, weapons-smuggling tunnels, Hamas command posts and weapons storage facilities were targeted in the strikes.
Related:
The IDF also targeted the National Islamic Bank which Hamas uses to pay its employees. According to Al Jazeera, four people were injured in the IDF strike on the bank.
Just after midnight four rockets landed in the Ofakim area and approximately two hours later red alert sirens were sounded in Ashkelon, Sderot, the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, Kiryat Gat and the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks.
The government agreed to briefly hold off on sending ground forces into Gaza in order to allow time for cease-fire efforts in Cairo to continue, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
Efforts to reach a cease-fire deal, taking place in Cairo, were expected to continue on Tuesday as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was scheduled to arrive in Jerusalem.
The Israel Air Force has struck more than 1,400 targets in Gaza since Operation Pillar of Defense, entering its seventh day on Tuesday, began with the targeted killing of Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari last Wednesday. Gaza officials claim 109 Palestinians have been killed in IDF strikes.
MDA forces have dealt with over 252 casualties since the beginning of the Gaza operation, including three killed by a rocket in Kiryat Malachi and 21 injured as a result of falling shrapnel.
The Iron Dome has intercepted more than 350 rockets in total since the start of the operation.
CNN reported on Monday that the US Navy is returning warships to the eastern Mediterranean in the event that US citizens in Israel will need to be evacuated if the Gaza conflict intensifies.
Two US officials said that an evacuation is a remote possibility and that US citizens interested in leaving Israel now can do so via commercial flights.
"This is due diligence. It is better to be prepared should there be a need," CNN quoted a US official as saying.
The USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall had been en route from the eastern Mediterranean to the US for the Thanksgiving holiday before they were given the order to turn back around, according to the report.
Tovah Lazaroff and Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.