IDF intercepts rocket fired from Gaza on Passover Eve, orders evacuation in launch area
Army’s Arabic spokesman says, ‘We will attack with great force every area from which rockets are launched’; three more rockets were intercepted earlier Saturday
A rocket was launched from Gaza at southern Israel on Saturday evening, Passover Eve, triggering sirens in several open areas near southern border towns.
The military said it successfully intercepted the rocket.
Following the launch, the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson called on residents of six neighborhoods in central Gaza’s Nuseirat area, from which the rocket was fired, to evacuate, saying strikes were incoming.
The practice has become standard throughout the war.
“This is a final advance warning before the attack!” Col. Avichay Adraee’s post said. “We will attack with great force every area from which rockets are launched… For your safety, you must move immediately south to the known shelters in Al Mawasi.”
Earlier on Saturday, three rockets launched from Gaza at the border community of Nir Yitzhak were intercepted by air defenses. The rocket fire set off alerts in open areas but not in any towns. No one was hurt.
In response to the rocket fire, the IDF issued an evacuation order for the Khan Younis area.
#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة النصيرات وفي الأحياء: الايمان، التقوى، البساتين، الزهراء، البوادي، النزهة
????هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل الهجوم!????
⭕️سنهاجم بقوة شديدة كل منطقة يتم إطلاق قذائف صاروخية منها.
⭕️تتحمل المنظمات الارهابية وفي مقدمتها حماس المسؤولية… pic.twitter.com/dOjCRllrGG— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) April 12, 2025
Also on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had completed the seizure of the Morag Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip, cutting off the city of Rafah from Khan Younis.
The military said Rafah was now surrounded by its forces, with the 36th Division holding the Morag Corridor and the Gaza Division operating in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border area.
Defense Minister Israel Katz called on Palestinians to “remove Hamas and release all the hostages” before the military further expands its operations in the Strip.
“This is the final moment to remove Hamas and release the hostages and bring about an end to the war,” Katz said. “Intensive IDF activity will soon expand to additional places in most of Gaza, and you will have to evacuate the combat zones.”
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when some 5,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still holding 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive, and 35 of whom have been confirmed dead — including 58 of those abducted on October 7.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 50,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far. The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel assesses it has killed about 20,000 combatants in Gaza as of January, as well as some 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the Hamas onslaught.
Israel’s toll in the Gaza ground offensive and military operations along the border stands at 410.
The Times of Israel Community.