TEL AVIV, December 26. /TASS/. The Israeli town of Sderot on the border with the Gaza Strip has been shelled, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said.

There are no reports of casualties and destruction as a result of the attack.

According to The Times of Israel, an air raid alert has been declared in Sderot and the neighboring communities of Ibim and Nir Am early this morning. Later, sirens went off in Nahal Oz. Many residents of these communities temporarily fled their homes due to the fighting and frequent rocket attacks by radicals from the Gaza Strip.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli borderline kibbutz settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.