“We have prepared a serious missile attack that will hit Israel from Haifa in the north to Ramon Airport in the south and we have frozen it due to the ceasefire,” Hamas threatened Israel.

Celebratory demonstrations took place in the Gaza Strip and West Bank following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect early Friday morning.
Fireworks, singing, and parades down the streets can be seen in uploaded footage.

Fireworks and guns were fired, celebrating the “resistance victory,” Kan News reported.

Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy leader in Gaza, said he dedicated the victory to the Palestinian people, when he came out of hiding, Kan added.

Reuters confirmed that a Hamas official said Israel must end its violations in Jerusalem and address damages from the bombardment of Gaza following the ceasefire.

A woman and child take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza strip on a road between Ashkelon and Sderot, southern Israel, on May 19, 2021.
A woman and child take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza strip on a road between Ashkelon and Sderot, southern Israel, on May 19, 2021.

“It is true the battle ends today but Netanyahu and the whole world should know that our hands are on the trigger and we will continue to grow the capabilities of this resistance,” said Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas political bureau.

He told Reuters in Doha that the movement’s demands also include protecting Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and ending the eviction of several Palestinians from their home in East Jerusalem which Reshiq described as “a red line.”

Hamas fired rockets towards Gaza border communities merely two hours before the expected ‘mutual and unconditional’ ceasefire.

The Fire and Rescue Spokeswoman for Israel’s Southern District reported a direct hit to a printing press in the Eshkol Regional Council and Magen David Adom treated a 53-year-old man who was lightly injured.

The IDF carried out airstrikes on targets throughout the Gaza Strip shortly thereafter, as seen in video footage posted by Kan News.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida warned Israel, “we have prepared a serious missile attack that would hit Israel from Haifa in the north to Ramon Airport in the south and we have frozen it due to the ceasefire.”

“If the enemy proves that they stand by the ceasefire and do not attack until 02:00 tonight, the missile strike will not take place,” Obeida added.

This comes after a tense calm was broken on Wednesday night with several barrages of rocket and mortar fire against communities in southern Israel, despite ongoing talks of a looming ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Though no rockets were fired between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m., several salvos were launched toward border communities. Rocket and mortar fire continued throughout the day, with sirens sounding in Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba and neighboring communities.

Several rockets struck homes in Ashkelon and Ashdod, causing extensive damage. A 26-year-old man was lightly injured from glass shards and other debris after a house was hit. He was taken for medical treatment to Barzilai Medical Center by the Magen David Adom rescue service.

The spokesperson for the Ashkelon Municipality said that there were also reports of two more rockets slamming into the southern city. Mayor Tomer Glam asked residents not to come to the scene where the rocket fell, saying that “the silence is dangerous, and here we see how in seconds we [can see] a direct hit inside the city. We are still in a state of war, and care must be taken to adhere to the guidelines.”
Hamas also fired an anti-tank missile toward an empty military bus near the community of Zikim.

A preliminary investigation found that the bus was on its way to bringing back about 10 paratroopers from a mission, and had traveled on non-exposed routes and dropped off the soldiers in the permitted area. After the soldiers got off, the bus advanced a few more meters outside the base, where it was exposed, and was hit by an anti-tank missile.

One soldier standing next to the vehicle was lightly wounded by shrapnel upon impact, and was taken to Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba. There were no other injuries.

After the incident, Gaza terrorists intensified mortar fire to the area.

It is the third time that a vehicle has been hit by anti-tank fire.

Later in the day, the IDF said that it carried out an airstrike against a car in the northern Gaza Strip claiming that those inside were part of an anti-tank cell belonging to Hamas. The military said it also destroyed a launchpad in Beit Lahiya where a cell launched an anti-tank missile toward the bus.

A senior commander in the Gaza Division told reporters on Wednesday that anti-tank guided missiles are a major threat, and that there have been 40 strikes against ATGM cells. Due to the military’s focus on those cells, Hamas only has around a dozen launchers left and feels hunted and vulnerable, he said.

The IDF, meanwhile, continued to strike targets belonging to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad throughout the day, albeit with much less intensity than in previous days.

The targets hit on Thursday included a number of drone launchers, four tunnels, a military operations room, and 30 Hamas rocket launchers including multi-barrel ones. According to the IDF, some of the launchers were above ground, and some had been buried in order to make them more difficult for Israel to strike. Some of the rocket launchers were armed and aimed toward Israel, the IDF said, and that a number of operatives were also struck while firing rockets.

According to the military, about 430 rocket launchers belonging to the two groups were destroyed in recent days, and 20 operatives launching the rockets were killed.
Overnight, the Israeli military continued to strike throughout Gaza, including additional targets as part of its campaign to hit Hamas’s underground tunnel network.
Targets struck included weapons production sites and several launch and underground positions, as well as weapons storage units located inside the residence of the former justice and released prisoners minister, who previously served as a member of the Hamas Political Bureau.

Other residences where the IDF said military infrastructure was placed were also hit. The homes included that of Ashraf Al-Jabari, who is in charge of training at the terror organization’s so-called military wing in Khan Yunis; Muhammad Abu Mustafa, a commander in the Nuhba Forces of Hamas’s East Khan Yunis Battalion; Muhammad Bu’ab, commander of the Hamas East Rafah Battalion; and Osama Abu Anza, who serves as head of the surface-to-surface missile unit in the Khan Yunis Brigade.

According to the IDF, over 4,000 rockets and mortars have been fired since the beginning of the fighting. About 70 rockets and mortar shells were fired between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Thursday, with 10 falling short into Gaza.

As reported by The Jerusalem Post