'Miracle' Kept 50 IDF Soldiers From Being Killed by Hamas Missile

On Monday, armed groups in Gaza fired more then 300 rockets at southern Israel, according to the IDF, some of which scored direct hits on homes, causing multiple injuries. However, in one case, a rocket destroyed a bakery's warehouse in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, and at least 14 Israelis were reported injured.

Hamas said the Israeli actions dealt a blow to Egyptian, Qatari and United Nations efforts to broker a long-term ceasefire and ease an Israeli blockade that has deepened economic hardship in Gaza.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the operation was "not meant to kill or abduct terrorists but to strengthen Israeli security".

"The Manama regime continues to imprison, expel and revoke the citizenship of Bahraini scholars and popular opposition leaders at the same time that it is preparing to host an Israeli minister", Qaouq pointed out, adding, "Whilst the Saudi regime is offering an olive branch to Israel, it is savagely ramping up the war on Yemen and its crackdown on ordinary people in the kingdom."

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis.

Security personnel check a damaged house in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, following a rocket attack from Gaza November 12, 2018.

Hamas said six other Hamas fighters were killed and the Palestinian Health Ministry says seven additional people were injured.

Joint statements from Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, including Hamas, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire and the missile attack on the bus, which it said was being used by Israeli soldiers.

Violence erupted when a covert Israeli mission got exposed in Gaza on Sunday.

"Imagine if Palestinians crossed into Israel and killed [seven] Israelis, all hell would break loose but Palestinians are expected to just accept this", Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, wrote on Twitter.

The deadly rocket strike came before dawn in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon.

He added that the missiles' ability to overwhelm Israel's missile defences and hit houses will be "a bad blow" to Israel, adding that this was "the most serious escalation in fighting between Israel and Hamas since 2014 and in terms of the number of Israelis injured by missiles".

"The special operation yesterday was not meant to kill or abduct terrorists, but to strengthen Israeli security", the @IDFspokesperson verified account tweeted.

Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus declined to comment on the Al-Qassam account "because of the sensitive nature of the operation".

The military provided few details about the reason for the raid.

A funeral was held for the seven Palestinian militants on Monday attended by thousands, including masked Al-Qassam members carrying rifles, some firing into the air. "This violence prevents any real help for the people of Gaza".

The prospects for progress appeared bright at the weekend after Israel permitted US$15 million in cash from Qatar into Gaza to pay long-delayed salaries of the Hamas-Government's civil servants to ease the suffering of the territory's two million residents and reduce tension.

Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu's education minister and right-wing rival, compared the cash flow to "protection money" paid to criminals.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars in Gaza over the past decade, the latest taking place in the summer of 2014.