Swords of Iron: Here is what happened on days 3, 4 and 5

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi conducted a security assessment at the IDF's Northern Command on Tuesday evening as part of the Israeli military's preparations for a multi-front war.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen at Israel's Northern Command on October 10, 2023 during Operation Swords of Iron (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen at Israel's Northern Command on October 10, 2023 during Operation Swords of Iron (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen at Israel's Northern Command on October 10, 2023 during Operation Swords of Iron (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

A Palestinian man was reportedly killed in the West Bank town of Baka a-Sharkiya, near Tulkarm, during a barrage of rockets from Gaza at the area, according to local reports.

Six more were injured, according to a local Palestinian official.

The IDF struck targets in southern Lebanon after rocket sirens sounded along Israel's northern border with Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon, the military confirmed.

Sirens sounded in the border communities of Metzuva, Betzet, Shlomi, Hanita, Achziv and Liman in the western Galilee area. A rocket was reported to have fallen in Shlomi, but no injuries or damage were reported.

Later on Tuesday evening, the IDF confirmed that Israeli tanks targeted Hezbollah observation points in southern Lebanon after some 15 rockets were fired into northern Israel.

The military used artillery to strike targets across the border.

A heavy rocket barrage was launched from the Gaza Strip on Ashkelon after Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida told residents of Israel's southern port city to evacuate the area by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, without giving any further details.

Magen David Adom reported that paramedics are on their way to the scene following reports of rockets landing on homes in the city.

One Israeli woman in her 50s was moderately wounded after her windows exploded following a hit on her apartment building. She was rushed to Barzilai Medical Center for treatment.

Israel's security cabinet will meet at 7:30 p.m. local time, the government said Tuesday.

A heavy rocket barrage was launched from the Gaza Strip on Ashkelon after Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida told residents of Israel's southern port city to evacuate the area by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, without giving any further details.

Bodies of Israeli residents and Hamas terrorists lay in the grounds of the Kfar Aza kibbutz among burned-out houses, strewn furniture, and torched cars, as Israeli soldiers went from house to house to take away the dead.

IDF took the foreign press through the site, one of the hardest hit areas when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.

The stench of bodies was heavy in the air as reporters walked the paths of the kibbutz.

"You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers, in their bedrooms, in their protection rooms, and how the terrorist kills them. It's not a war, it's not a battlefield. It's a massacre, it's a terror activity," said Israeli Major General Itai Veruv.

"It is something that I never saw in my life. It's something that we used to imagine from our grandfathers, grandmothers in the pogrom in Europe and other places. It's not something that happens in new history."

The IDF announced it targeted and killed Hamas' finance minister Jawad Abu Shmala, who the Israeli military said was responsible for the distribution of funds for terror inside and outside the Gaza Strip.

Shmala was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike overnight on Monday. 

The IDF also successfully targeted another member of Hamas' political bureau, Zakaria Abu Maamar, who served as Hamas' head of international relations.

In his job, Abu Maamar was responsible for the direct communications between different Palestinian factions within the Strip. 

The IDF noted that he was connected to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and belonged to Hamas' senior decision-making forum which planned a host of attacks and assaults on Israel's security.

A heavy rocket barrage was launched from the Gaza Strip toward central Israel, with sirens sounding for several minutes in Tel Aviv, Holon, Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, Bnei Brak, Palmachim and the Gush Dan area, reaching as north as Petah Tikva.

There were no reports of rockets landing on Israeli land, Magen David Adom said.

Rocket barrages into central Israel continued on Tuesday afternoon. A loud blast was heard by residents in Tel Aviv and the surrounding cities.

The Israeli Defense Ministry addressed concerns surrounding the nation's readiness amidst growing regional tensions in a press conference held earlier on Tuesday. Col. (Res.) Yoram Laredo, head of the National Emergency Authority at the Defense Ministry, commented on the nation's current state of operational readiness. He said, "There is no shortage of products, no gaps - neither in the production chain nor in the supply chain."

He elaborated further on the establishment of the National Continuity of Operations Center in Ramla, which is now seamlessly integrated with the Home Front Command. Laredo mentioned, "We maintain an up-to-date situational picture regarding the continuity of operations in product supply, from consumer demand to service providers."

Addressing the recent evacuation of residents from settlements near the Gaza perimeter, the Defense Ministry clarified the operation's purpose and scale. "The operation, named 'Safe Distance,' was designed for the safety of the residents. Approximately 8,000 people were evacuated from 25 settlements, as directed by the Israel Defense Forces," stated Laredo.