Gaza militants strike within 16 miles of Tel Aviv: Mideast update March 24

In addition to Gaza violence, allied forces ramped up efforts in western Libya and more than two dozen are reported dead in Syria protests Wednesday. Yemen could be inching closer to civil war.

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Eyad Baba/AP
A Palestinian boy looks at the damage at a smuggling tunnel following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, on the border between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, on March 24.

Check back weekday mornings for a quick tally of the latest developments in the Middle East and North Africa.

Israel and the Palestinian Territories

The Israeli air force and militants in the Gaza Strip traded fire again overnight, the latest in several days of back-and-forth attacks that are the worst since the 2009 Gaza war. A rocket fired by Gaza militants Thursday morning came within 16 miles of Tel Aviv, the Israeli daily Haaretz reports. Israel responded with several air strikes.

Libya

Allied forces stepped up strikes on Tripoli, Libya's capital and a Qaddafi stronghold, Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Qaddafi's forces and rebels remained in a stalemate in the eastern city of Ajdabiya. A British Air Force official said Wednesday that the Libyan air force had been completely crushed and that no Libyan military planes had taken off since Saturday.

RELATED: Timeline of Libya's conflict

Syria

Reuters reports that Syrian hospital officials said Thursday that at least 25 people died in protests in Wednesday's protests in Deraa. To find out more about the protests, check out the Monitor's story from yesterday.

Yemen

Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh's presidential guard clashed Thursday with a group of soldiers backing the protesters, wounding three people, Agence France-Presse reports. The fighting took place in the town of Mukalla in eastern Yemen, Al Jazeera reports, as concerns mount about civil war.

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