Ya'alon: Hamas will regret embarking on this round of fighting with Israel; IDF downs Gaza drone over southern Israel; Israeli military shells Lebanon after cross-border rocket attack; Palestinian killed by IDF gunfire near Hebron.
Operation Protective Edge entered its seventh day Monday, as the IDF continued to carry out massive strikes within the Gaza Strip from land and sea, and Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israeli towns.
Since the operation began, 172 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,100 have been wounded. Gaza hospitals are reporting a dire shortage of medicine and equipment, particularly for trauma injuries. Thousands of northern Gaza residents fled their homes on Sunday after Israel issued warnings of forthcoming air strikes.
Since the start of the operation, more than 700 rockets have fallen within Israel. Only a fraction landed in urban regions. The Iron Dome, which is only meant to intercept rockets that are headed for such areas, has an 87 percent success rate.
The inner cabinet met late on Sunday to discuss a ground operation. As of Sunday noon, 42,000 of the 48,000 reservists authorized by the cabinet had been called up in preparation for a possible ground invasion.
Latest updates:
3:43 P.M. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells his Australian counterpart Tony Abbot is acting to protect its citizens from Hamas terrorists firing rockets indiscriminately at Israeli citizens while hiding behind its own population and using civilians as human shields in the Gaza Strip. The goal of the operation is to bring quiet back to the cities of Israel for an extended period and bring significant harm to the terrorist infrastructure. (Barak Ravid)
3:18 P.M. A soldier is lightly wounded by a mortar shell which exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council. He is being rushed to a hospital for medical treatment.
About two hours ago, the IDF attempted a targeted killing in Khan Yunis. According to the defense establishment, the target, who was riding a motorcycle when the strike took place, was only wounded, and that a second strike was aborted when civilians were spotted at the scene. According to security sources, the militant targeted was involved in rocket fire toward Israel in recent days. (Gili Cohen)
2:40 P.M. Two rockets explode in the Eshkol Regional Council. (Shirley Seidler)
2:30 P.M. Hamas says it has launched three unmanned aerial vehicles into Israel, one of which reached the Kirya, the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv. According to the statement issued by Hamas' military arm, the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the group's engineers have developed three different types of drones: one for intelligence gathering, one for bombing missions, and one for suicide missions.
It was also stated that members of the group tried to activate two of the drones, but lost communications with them. This is not the first time drones were used, the group said, claiming they have flown a drone over the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv in the past. (Jack Khoury)
1:30 P.M. A rocket explodes at a school parking lot in the Eshkol Regional Council; road damaged. Another rocket was evidently intercepted over Ashkelon. (Gili Cohen and Shirley Seidler)
12:58 P.M. Hamas' military wing says it has sent several drones into Israel on different missions, the Ma'an news agency reports. (Jack Khoury)
12:40 P.M. Six rockets are fired toward Ashdod; four are intercepted, one explodes in an open area and and another in the yard of a home. An 8-year-old boy is lightly wounded by shrapnel. (Gili Cohen)
12:05 P.M. Two rockets are intercepted over Ashkelon. (Gili Cohen)
11:30 A.M. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon held a briefing with representatives from the IDF, Shin Bet and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. After the meeting, Ya'alon said that Israel "is continuing to pound Hamas and its infrastructure. The damage to Hamas and to the other terror organizations in the Gaza Strip is severe… when Hamas leaders come out of their hiding places they will discover the extent of the destruction and damage we have caused to the organization, in a way that will make them regret they embarked on a round of fighting with Israel."
Ya'alon also spoke about the drone that entered Israel from the Gaza Strip on Monday morning, saying that the incident was "an example of the continued attempts to target us in any way possible," as well as an example of "the IDF's readiness."
On the subject of rocket fire from Syria and Lebanon, Ya'alon said that Israel will not tolerate such aggression. "We hold the Lebanese government and Bashar Assad's regime responsible for the [rocket] fire on our territory; this is a situation we will not accept and we will respond aggressively against such attempts, as we did overnight," he said.
11:10 A.M. A rocket was intercepted over Ashkelon. Three others explode in open areas near Ofakim. (Gili Cohen, Shirley Seidler)
10:56 A.M. Balad leader MK Jamal Zahalka was removed from the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee after yelling at Israel Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino that "his hands are covered in blood." Committee chairwoman MK Miri Regev (Likud) responded to Zahalka, calling him "a terrorist." (Jonathan Lis)
Police arrested 36 people on Sunday on suspicion of disturbing the peace, throwing rocks and hurling firebombs in Jerusalem. 165 people have been arrested so far on similar suspicions, including 44 minors. (Nir Hasson)
10:40 A.M. Meretz leader Zahava Gal-On calls for an immediate unilateral cease-fire, "out of a position of strength and with the understanding that you triumph over terror with aerial attacks or ground entry. The operation in Gaza has taken a toll of hundreds of innocent civilians and hundreds of wounded."
Gal-On added that in addition to announcing a cease-fire, Israel must accept Abbas as a mediator with Hamas and regard him as "the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people." "A solution to Gaza passes through Ramallah, and must address the political and economic situation of some 1.8 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip," she said. (Barak Ravid)
10:20 A.M. The Hof Ashkelon Regional Council is declared a closed military zone. Access allowed to residents only.
The death toll in Gaza since the launch of Operation Protective Edge rises to 172 overnight. (Shirley Seidler and Jack Khoury)
9:05 A.M. The IDF has arrested 23 Palestinians in the West Bank overnight. Among the detainees are five Hebron residents linked to Hamas who are investigated in connection with the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers last month. (Gili Cohen)
The condition of a 16-year-old who was wounded in a rocket explosion in Ashkelon on Sunday improves. His condition is said to be serious but stable. (Shirley Seidler)
8:50 A.M. A Palestinian is killed by IDF gunfire near Hebron. According to the military, the incident occurred while a reserve unit attempted to arrest three masked men who were approaching a road near Samu'a carrying rocks and paint bottles. (Chaim Levinson)
8:30 A.M. The IDF has struck 42 targets in Gaza overnight. A senior officer says that despite the bolstered Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip's north, Hamas has instructed residents to stay in the area to "serve as human shields." (Gili Cohen)
A rocket that was fired from Gaza but failed to detonate is found in the yard of an Ashkelon home. Explosives experts are working to neutralize it. Another rocket explodes in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. Two others hit the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council; home damaged but no injuries reported. (Shirley Seidler)
8:10 A.M. Fourteen rockets and mortar shells have exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council overnight and on Monday morning. No damage reported. (Shirley Seidler)
8:00 A.M. Palestinians report Israeli military activity in Hebron, evidently in connection to the kidnaping and murder of three Israeli youths last month.
"We're making a great effort to find the kidnappers of the teenagers in the West Bank," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit says. "Everything that is happening in the West Bank in recent nights is connected to this effort." (Gili Cohen)
7:50 A.M. The unmanned aerial vehicle that entered Israel from Gaza earlier was intercepted by a Patriot missile. The IDF is checking whether the aircraft carried explosives. The air force says it has been prepared for the such an incident. (Gili Cohen)
7:30 A.M. The IDF intercepts an unmanned aerial vehicle that entered Israeli territory from Gaza. The interception over Ashdod sets off sirens in the city. (Gili Cohen)
6:34 A.M. Rocket alerts sound across Ashdod region.
6:23 A.M. Three Palestinians are killed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, the Ma'an news agency reports. The three are Maher Abu-Mor, 24, Sadam Maumar, 23, and Musa Maumar, 60.
Operation Protective Edge's death count in Gaza has reached 170, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
6:05 A.M. Rocket alerts sound across Gaza-bordering regions and in Sderot.
5:41 A.M. Barrage of rockets fired toward Eshkol Regional Council, alerts sound.
5:26 A.M. Rocket alert sounds in the Eshkol Regional Council.
2:04 A.M. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm on Sunday that hostilities in and around the Gaza Strip appeared to be worsening, warning that an Israeli ground offensive would "undoubtedly increase the death toll and exacerbate civilian suffering in the Gaza Strip."
2:00 A.M. Rocket sirens sound in northern Negev towns.
1:24 A.M. The alerts that were sounded just after midnight in the Western Galilee were due to the launching of several missiles from within Lebanon, the IDF spokesman says, adding that no injuries were caused in the attack. The IDF also said that massive artillery fire was directed at the source of the shooting in response, and that "severe messages" were conveyed to the Lebanese authorities via the UN's UNIFIL forces. (Eli Ashkenazi)
1:16 A.M. Rocket alert sounds in Eshkol Regional Council
00:27 A.M. Rocket alerts sound in Western Galilee.
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