Gaza groups claim rocket attacks on Israel

Two Palestinian resistance factions on Monday said they had fired dozens of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israeli towns and sites near the border.

The Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian faction Hamas, said it had targeted the city of Beersheba in the southern Negev region with a Grad rocket.

It also claimed to have fired 19 mortar shells at several kibbutzim (agricultural collectives) – including Be'eri, Nirim, Ein HaShlosha, Kerem Shalom, Holit and Kfar Aza – in southern Israel.

It also targeted Israel's Kissufim military site and the Erez border crossing with a total of 13 mortar shells, the group said.

Meanwhile, the Saraya al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian faction Islamic Jihad, said it had fired two Grad rockets at the coastal city of Ashkelon and ten mortar shells at Nir Oz, Nirim and Kissufim.

In a joint statement, the two groups said they had fired 30 mortar rounds at the Netiv HaAsara agricultural settlement in the Negev.

The joint operation, the two groups said, had also targeted an Israeli troop concentration near the Erez crossing.