The point guard’s statistical numbers would undoubtedly improve if he joined a team like the Lakers and resumed his starting job. However, Paul has been prone to injuries in recent years, particularly during the playoffs, making him a riskier bet.
The Israeli military said a number of the projectiles were intercepted. Israeli emergency services said they had received no reports of casualties. In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to “Zionist massacres against civilians”. Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV said the rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip.
Rafah is located about 100 km (60 miles) south of Tel Aviv. Israel says it wants to root out Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area, but its assault has worsened the plight of civilians and caused an international outcry. On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in Rafah, according to local medical services. Israeli tanks have probed around the edges of the city, close to the main southern crossing point into Egypt, but have not yet entered the city in force.
Following the rocket salvo, Israel’s hardline public security minister Itamar Ben Gvir – who is not part of Israel’s war cabinet – urged the army to hit Rafah harder. “Rafah with full force,” he posted on X. Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Fighting also continued on Sunday in Jabaliya, a densely populated region that had already seen weeks of fierce warfare. During one operation, the military claimed to have discovered a weapons storage facility with dozens of rocket parts and weapons in a school.
It disputed Hamas’ claims that Palestinian fighters had captured an Israeli soldier.
Negotiations for a truce
Efforts to cease the violence and repatriate more than 100 captives still held in Gaza have been stalled for weeks, but there have been some signs of progress following meetings between Israeli and US intelligence officials and Qatar’s prime minister.
An official with knowledge of the subject said the talks would restart this week based on new suggestions from Egyptian and Qatari mediators, as well as “active U.S. involvement.”
However, a Hamas official dismissed the report, telling Reuters: “It is not true.”
Izzat El-Reshiq, a senior Hamas leader in exile, stated that the party has not received any information from the mediators regarding new dates for the restart of talks, as reported by Israeli media.
Reshiq reiterated Hamas’ demands, which include “ending the aggression completely and permanently, in all of the Gaza Strip, not just Rafah.”
While Israel seeks the return of captives, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated repeatedly that the war will not end until Hamas is defeated.
Aid trucks entered Gaza.
Following more than seven months of a war that has resulted in massive destruction and hunger in Gaza, Israel has faced calls to send additional help there.
Israel prepared on Sunday to allow some 200 aid trucks into Gaza via Kerem Shalom, on the southeastern edge of the Palestinian territory, bypassing the major Rafah crossing, which has been closed for weeks.
It comes after US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed on Friday to temporarily transfer aid through the bridge.
Khaled Zayed, an Egyptian Red Crescent spokesman, told Reuters that 200 relief trucks, including four fuel trucks, were due to enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday.
Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV posted a video on social networking site X, claiming to show relief trucks entering Kerem Shalom, which was previously the main commercial crossing point between Israel, Egypt, and Gaza.
The Rafah crossing has been closed for over three weeks, after Israel gained control of the Palestinian side as part of its offensive in the area on May 6.
Egypt has become more concerned about the likelihood of huge numbers of Palestinians entering its territory from Gaza, and has refused to open its portion of the Rafah crossing.
Israel has stated that it will not impede aid flows and has opened new crossing sites in the north, as well as cooperating with the United States, which has constructed a temporary floating pier for relief supplies. — Reuters
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