Israeli army says it has intercepted rocket from Gaza
The Israeli army says it intercepted a rocket from Gaza on Friday morning. According to the army, air raid sirens went off near the border with the Gaza Strip and one rocket was detected and intercepted. This happened more than an hour before the temporary ceasefire expires.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas expires at 6 a.m. Dutch time. Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating an extension of the truce. There has been no confirmation yet whether the ceasefire will be extended. It is not clear whether the Israeli army’s reporting on the possible rocket attack has any influence on this.
Hamas-affiliated media reported shortly afterwards that shots and explosions rang out in the north of the Gaza Strip. NRC cannot verify this news. Hamas has not yet responded to the news from the Israeli army.
New York Times: Israel had known about Hamas’s attack plan for a year
Israeli security services have known about Hamas’ plans to attack Israel for more than a year. That writes The New York Times Thursday based on internal documents and emails from the Israeli Defense Forces and intelligence services. This shows prior knowledge of Hamas’ plans, the American newspaper said.
Israeli officials are said to have known about the October 7 attack but did not take it seriously because it would be too ambitious for Hamas. The 40-page document, codenamed “Jericho Wall” by Israeli authorities, described Hamas’s attack in detail. Hamas followed these plans with precision, killing 1,200 people in the attack on December 7.
The document circulated according to The New York Times on a large scale among Israeli soldiers. It is unclear whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other political leaders have also seen the document.
Israel releases thirty Palestinian prisoners
Israel has released 30 Palestinian prisoners after Hamas released eight hostages earlier on Thursday. Prison authorities in Israel reported this in the night from Thursday to Friday. This would involve 23 children and seven women.
The prisoners come from prisons in Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank. There has been a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas since November 24. Since then, 110 hostages have been released by Hamas and 240 Palestinian prisoners by Israel.
The ceasefire has been extended several times so far. This morning at 7 a.m. local time, the current file will expire. A new grant is currently being discussed. According to the Reuters news agency, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are currently trying to extend the truce by two days.