As Operation Al-Aqsa Flood continues to deal extensive damage to the Israeli occupation, the people of Palestine are continuing to show a united front in the face of Israeli aggression. What did day 7 of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood look like for the people of Palestine, especially those suffering under Israeli criminality in Gaza?

Rockets

- Range of rockets that hit their targets from the nearest to the farthest

Related News

UN official blasts Israeli 'weaponization' of aid to Gaza

MSF accuses 'Israel' of ethnic cleansing, calls for ceasefire in Gaza

• 10-20 km Gaza's Envelope, occupied Askalan, "Ashdod", "Zikim".
• 40 km Beir el-Sabe
• 75-85 km "Tel Aviv" and surrounding areas

Note: Rocket launches were halted at 8:30 PM on October 13, according to statements released by both al-Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades. The two groups said that launches would resume after Friday prayer was held, as the Resistance utilized an interesting tactic that meant the following:

• Allowing "Israel's" homefront to "relax" and pull back people out of safe areas into the streets. Almog Boker, an Israeli correspondent, said that during long periods of silence, people should be most alert since Hamas looks to take advantage of the element of surprise.
• Halting rocket launches encouraged people to go out in protests against the aggression on Gaza prior to the Friday prayer.
• Tricking Israeli forces into believing that the Resistance has become weaker as a result of 6 days of confrontation, as the former prepares for a ground invasion.

Number of rockets launched 

• The number of rockets launched on Friday was expected to push down the average number of rockets launched per day since the beginning of the operation, however, an initial barrage of 150 rockets towards occupied Askalan made up for the long hours of silence.
• The average number of launches per day has been maintained at 300 which is a remarkable figure.

Continuity

• On day 7 of confrontations, the Resistance seems to be able to maintain the aforementioned number which confirms that its promises to carry out the battle for a longer period are true.

The Rockets launched

• No new variants of the rockets in the Resistance's arsenal were launched today, however, when observing the level of destruction in occupied Askalan, the previously released specifications of Palestinian Resistance rockets are accurate.
• Drones continue to infiltrate airspace over Gaza's Envelope.

Accuracy of strikes

• The number of deaths and injuries continues to grow as occupied Askalan has not been evacuated yet, however, settlers are migrating away from the occupied city as rockets continue to hit their targets.
• According to international correspondents, rockets are hitting their targets in Askalan, but they are not allowed to cover the situation on the ground fearing backlash from Israeli officials
• The Iron Dome continues to launch its missiles in hopes of intercepting rockets fired from Gaza. Nonetheless, there are no clear estimates on the ratio of successful interceptions, as the Israeli occupation has not yet released any data showing a high success rate of the Iron Dome.
• Following a barrage in the morning, 5 Israelis were injured in "Sderot" after 7 rockets hit their targets, which equals the daily average of injured Israelis.
• The morning barrage consisted of 50 rockets meaning that the success rate of the barrage was around 15%.

Ground and naval fronts

- Fronts of infiltration and confrontation

• Reports continue to come in about landings and clashes in several areas, including "Zikim." However, the Israeli occupation is attempting to conceal information about the issue, and the resistance cannot directly communicate with the invading groups.
• It is clear that there has been a decrease in the level of infiltration due to the Israeli army's work in blocking some breaches over the past three days.
• This decrease may be related to the resistance's decision to reduce the human attrition rate of its elite cadres as the potential ground invasion approaches.

• It is evident that on day 7, according to late news from the evening of the sixth day, there were long-range infiltrations (more than 25 kilometers deep into occupied Palestine) by groups that were previously hidden.

Ground invasion

• Israeli and international discussions have become more explicit about intense Israeli mobilization, but the mobilization is reportedly only in the north of the Gaza Strip. This news must be handled cautiously because it may be a military ruse, not indicating whether the troops are present or not, but rather specifying a particular location. What further confirms this is that the shelling over the past two days has been concentrated in the northern area, which appears to be the first phase of the ground invasion.
• Israelis have lost a number of their captives in the bombing of the northern direction, indicating that the focus on the northern Gaza Strip is highly serious.

Humanitarian situation

Displacement

• Day 7 started with significant threats to evacuate the northern areas of Gaza Valley, meaning the northern governorates and Gaza. However, the traffic of displacement is low, and people are still holding out in their homes despite being given a short notice of 24 hours.

• The Americans and Israelis want to implement a two-stage displacement plan. The first stage is to transfer the population from the northern Gaza Valley to its south, thereby reducing the area of Gaza by 40-50%, and then creating a displacement movement in a second stage towards Egypt, the ultimate outcome and goal.
• Coerced displacement due to intensive shelling is increasing by the day, leading to people fleeing due to damage, not just fear, to schools and the homes of relatives.

Extent of damage

• As of 12:40 PM on Thursday, the Israeli army announced that the Air Force had destroyed more than 22,639 homes, 10 healthcare institutions, 48 schools in Gaza, and dozens of mosques. This number exceeds all previous wars waged on Gaza combined despite the short period of time since the start of this round of aggression.
• The Ministry of Health is expected to only last about 7 days
• Fuel is very limited, and it is not expected to last for more than 5 days.
• There is more wiggle room in terms of food, and it may last for a month at the most, though that time span could decrease if aid does not arrive swiftly.

Daily casualties rate

• Close to 200 Palestinian people are martyred daily, which has been a steady figure since the start of the Israeli aggression, with 900 wounded per day on average. However, the toll appears to be increasing, especially with the intensifying shelling.

• Figures could rise dramatically in the event of a ground invasion, making it difficult to transport the wounded and significantly increasing the number of martyrs.

• Medical crews are facing many problems in treating the wounded due to the overcrowding of Gaza's hospitals. Transporting wounded individuals from one hospital to another is difficult due to the heavy bombardment.

The West Bank

Shooting operations

• After a decrease on Tuesday, a significant increase in the number of shooting operations carried out, which rose to 23 operations on Friday.

Demonstrations

• The number of people demonstrating against the Israeli occupation is increasing, but the demonstrations are still confined to cities.

Confrontations

• The massacre in Qusra has caused a significant reaction and tension within the West Bank. There is fear of more alarming settler aggression, which increases the frequency of confrontations.

• These are the current conflict points as of Friday afternoon:
• The entrance to Beit Furik, east of Nablus.
• The vicinity of the "Beka'ot" settlement in the northern Jordan Valley.
• Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya.
• Al-Arroub camp, north of al-Khalil.
• Wadi al-Joz neighborhood in al-Quds.
• The town of Awarta, southeast of Nablus.
• The area between the towns of Bidu and Beit Ijza, northwest of occupied al-Quds.

The following table shows the various confrontations and the total number of them throughout the operation.

Martyrs

• 37 people have been martyred in the West Bank as of Friday, meaning an average of 5 people are martyred per day.