Two rockets were launched from the northern Gaza Strip at the southern Israeli port city of Ashdod on Sunday, a rare barrage that came as the Israel Defense Forces advanced in its offensive in Gaza City.

One rocket was intercepted by air defenses, while the second struck an open area, according to the IDF, the first time Ashdod experienced an attack since April 6. There were no reported injuries or major damage, and no immediate claim of responsibility for the rockets.

Rocket fire from Gaza was once an intermittent fact of life for southern Israel. But such salvos, especially long-range attacks with multiple projectiles, have become increasingly rare as the war has progressed, with terror groups’ launching capabilities hindered by the IDF’s ground offensive.

On Sunday, shortly after the missiles were intercepted, the IDF claimed to have killed “many” terror operatives over the past day who were planning to carry out attacks on troops during operations in Gaza City, currently the main theater of the nearly two-year war.

The Hamas fatalities came via airstrikes and ground operations in the Israeli offensive in the city, which began earlier this month. The government has depicted the city in the north of the Strip as Hamas’s last stronghold, and has ordered the estimated 1 million civilians there to evacuate to a humanitarian zone in the south.

Hamas-linked local officials have reported dozens killed daily, as Israel says around half of the residents have fled. Those evacuating describe an arduous journey, while Israel accuses Hamas of firing at aid workers and preventing the opening of an evacuation route out of the city.

One of the more notable recent Hamas casualties came Saturday when, the IDF said, it killed one of the terror group’s snipers, whose brother is the director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital. According to the military, Majed Abu Salmiya was killed in an airstrike in Gaza City’s Shati camp, as he was set to carry out an “imminent” attack on Israeli forces in the area.

The IDF said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, “as much as possible,” including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, his brother, is the Shifa Hospital director who was detained by Israel in November 2023 on suspicion of having allowed Hamas to use the Gaza City hospital as a center of operations, before being released in July 2024.

Abu Salmiya said he had been working in the emergency department on Saturday when his brother and sister-in-law’s bodies were brought in. He told AFP he rejected the military’s accusation regarding his brother as “a lie, slander and an unacceptable justification for targeting civilians with direct missile strikes.”

“My brother is a 57-year-old man who suffers from several illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and he has severe vision impairment — and they claim he was a sniper? This is pure fabrication,” he told AFP, noting his brother’s family had been displaced several times since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.

In addition, over the past day, according to the military, troops of the 98th Division spotted a cell of armed operatives near Israeli forces and directed an airstrike against them. In another incident in the area, the IDF said several operatives and weapons were identified at a site, which was then struck from the air.

The IDF said the 162nd Division, which is also operating in Gaza City, killed several more operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, including booby traps. The Navy’s 916th Patrol Squadron likewise killed an operative who “posed a threat to the ground troops,” the military said.

Meanwhile, the IDF said the 99th Division, operating elsewhere in northern Gaza, struck several buildings used by Hamas, along with operatives. And the Gaza Division, operating in the Strip’s south, located a Hamas surveillance command center, which was targeted in a drone strike, killing the operatives inside.

The military estimates it has demolished up to 20 Gaza City tower blocks over the past two weeks. Hamas estimates that since August 11, Israel’s military has destroyed or damaged more than 1,800 residential buildings in Gaza City, and destroyed more than 13,000 tents housing displaced families.

Over the past day, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, 75 Palestinians were killed and more than 300 were wounded by Israeli fire in the Strip. Gaza authorities do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The ministry also said that four more people died of malnutrition and starvation in the enclave, raising deaths from such causes to 440 people, including 147 children, since the war started. Israel has disputed claims of widespread famine in Gaza, but has admitted “there are issues of access to food” in some areas.

On Sunday morning, 10 IDF soldiers were lightly injured when a military vehicle they were in overturned during operations in northern Gaza, the military said. The troops were taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.

The war began with the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were abducted. Forty-eight hostages are still held by terror groups in Gaza, including some 20 thought to be alive.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 65,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques. Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 469.

Israel has continued to urge people to evacuate Gaza City, and says approximately half a million people have left. Hamas disputes this, saying just under 300,000 have left and around 900,000 remain.

The journey has proven difficult for some families. Recently, along the coastal Wadi Gaza route, those too exhausted to continue stopped to catch their breath and give their children a much-needed break from the difficult journey.

“No water, electricity, or internet. People are forced to leave with nothing,” said Seif Abu Oomsan. “They target us with things you wouldn’t imagine, like science fiction. They target us with missiles that we have never heard of.”

“We are headed toward the unknown. Nobody knows where they are going,” said Faris Swafiri.

Aid groups have warned that forcing thousands of people to evacuate will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis. COGAT, the Israeli defense agency that oversees aid in the enclave, said earlier that Hamas fired at UN teams on Saturday and prevented the opening of a new humanitarian route in the southern Gaza Strip.

Hamas categorically rejected the claims, saying criminal gangs granted protection by Israeli firepower and air cover are attacking aid trucks, looting and stealing. The UN was not immediately available to comment.