Tel Aviv. Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv was closed for a few hours on May 11 when the skies over Israel were filled with rockets launched from Gaza and Iron Dome interceptors. The intensified and relentless rocket fire fuelled growing fears that it could spiral into “full-scale war”. The airport was reopened after a few hours and all the delayed flights took off.
Last night and today the Israeli Air Force continued to strike the Gaza Strip, mainly targeting Hamas commanders. Four of them were killed. The IDF reportedly carried out “roof tapping” and contacted civilians in Gaza to warn them to evacuate from buildings that were going to be targeted. The warning are performed by launching small missiles to hit the targeted buildings. In one attack, the IDF eliminated two Hamas intelligence operatives who it said were responsible for rocket barrages into Israel. The IDF also eliminated three additional senior Hamas officials.
On Tuesday, Hamas and the IDF declared that they are rejecting efforts by Egypt to mediate a ceasefire. On Wednesday morning the Hamas began firing mortar shells to hit Israelis living near the border.
Shortly before that the IDF shot down a drone launched from Gaza probably for intelligence purposes.
-The writer is an International Roving Correspondent of the publication
