Thousands of Israelis evacuated settlements fearing Palestinian rockets

Lebanon's al-Manar television channel, citing Israeli sources, reported on Saturday that 12,000 settlers have run away from the areas in recent days, saying that the evacuation plan will continue until next Tuesday.

A few days ago, the Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper reported that 4,500 Israelis were expected to run away from the southern city of Sderot because they were extremely worried about the massive rocket fires by the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has extended the state of emergency in the occupied territories until next Tuesday, anticipating that the resistance groups will continue their retaliatory attacks.

Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip resumed rocket fire on the occupied territories earlier in the day, a few hours after Israel carried out airstrikes on several sites across Gaza, including two neighborhoods in Gaza City.

The bombardment set off sirens in Sderot and a number of Israeli communities, sending Israeli settlers to shelters. There were no reports of casualties.

The Islamic Jihad has vowed to strike targets deep inside the occupied territories in response to the targeting of residential homes in Gaza.

The Israeli regime has been continuously bombarding Gaza over the past several days, assassinating several resistance commanders.

In response, Palestinian resistance factions have launched retaliatory strikes toward Israeli cities and settlements.

The Israeli military says so far more than 1,000 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip.

At least 33 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed and 147 others wounded in the Israeli strikes since May 9, according to the health ministry in the besieged coastal territory.