Posts tagged Rocket Attacks
Southern Israel Under Attack From Massive Hamas Rocket Fire
Oct 24th
Hamas claims responsibility for rockets; IDF intercepts eight rockets fired toward Ashkelon; IAF strikes kill 4 Hamas members; southern local authorities cancel school.
Netanyahu said he decided to accept the recommendation of the defense and home front defense ministries to widen the radius around Gaza that will receive full protection against rocket and mortar fire.
A total of 80 rockets were fired so far from Gaza on rural areas in the South of Israel since Tuesday night. Eight rockets that were fired on Wednesday afternoon were intercepted over Ashkelon.
The Iron Dome successfully intercepted a Grad rocket, one of eight struck down since Tuesday night. A barrage of rockets and mortar shells rained down on southern Israel since Tuesday night, injuring five, causing damage and sending local residents fleeing for cover.
IAF strikes targeting Palestinian rocket-launching squads killed four Hamas operatives but did little to stem the flow of rockets.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam brigades, took responsibility Wednesday for both a barrage of rockets unleashed against Israel since Tuesday night and the bomb that critically injured an IDF officer along the Gaza border on Tuesday. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) took responsibility for the Gaza border bomb.
In a statement posted on its website, Hamas said it was responsible for rockets, which it said were a response to IDF air strikes from 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It also said that on Tuesday it “detonated a roadside bomb near Israeli infantry soldiers east of Khanyounis city.”
Of the projectiles fired by the terrorists, 22 landed in the Eshkol region while 21 landed in the Lachish region, according to the Israel Police. An additional 10 rockets landed in the South on Wednesday morning. The Iron Dome intercepted seven Grad rockets, according to the IDF. The barrage followed 10 rockets fired on Tuesday evening, making a total of 77. Five homes were damaged, according to Israel Radio.
Of the five injured, three were foreign workers, two of whom suffered critical injuries and were evacuated via helicopter to Soroka Medical Center. The others were either lightly injured or being treated for shock, according to Israel Radio.
IDF Home Front command instructed residents living within 10 km of Gaza to remain indoors and take shelter.
Air raid sirens went off during the attacks and local residents fled for cover. Southern municipalities canceled schools amid the ongoing escalation. Police have heightened patrols around Gaza in the south, including bomb sappers to deal with the heightened threat.
The IAF carried out an air strike around 7 a.m. Wednesday morning following three operations overnight, each striking rocket-launching cells in the northern and southern Gaza Strip. Hamas said that four of its operatives were killed in the strikes, and another three injured. The IDF also launched tank fire at targets in southern Gaza on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists detonated an explosive on the Gaza-Israel border, seriously injuring an IDF company commander.
The explosive was placed on a gate in the Kissufim region, near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.
Army paramedics administered first aid, before airlifting the officer, in very serious condition, to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba. Doctors battled to stabilize him.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s response to the bomb attack would be “very hard,” while Barak characterized the attack as a “severe incident.”
The Kissufim region, which borders central Gaza, has become a daily combat zone between Hamas and its affiliated terror groups and the IDF. Palestinian factions regularly plant bombs along the border, fire mortar shells at army positions, and terrorize Israeli farmers with rocket attacks. source – JPost
Palestinians Fire 20 Rockets Across Border Into Southern Israel In Last 24 Hours
Jun 23rd
Palestinians have fired over twenty rockets from Gaza into southern Israel since midnight on Friday, police said. Fifteen of those landed in the Lachish region, and five in the Negev. One rocket hit and damaged a school in Sderot. No injuries were reported. The Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted five of the rockets.
Gazan terrorists prepare to launch rockets toward Israel
11 rockets were fired toward the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council, Channel 10 reported. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the recent round of rockets.
Earlier, the IDF denied Palestinian reports that an IAF strike on Gaza had killed a four-year-old-boy and wounded seven others on Saturday. Quoting Gazan Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra, Palestinians news agency Ma’an reported that Israeli fire killed the boy in the Abasan neighborhood east of Khan Younis. The IDF denied any connection to the incident and stated that the IAF had not carried out any further strikes between the early morning and Saturday afternoon.
In light of the recent wave of rockets, the IDF instructed residents in the area to stay within 15 seconds of protected spaces. In a conversation with Army Radio, Sderot Mayor David Buskila called on the government to return quiet to the region.
The violence all but erases diplomatic progress made in the form of an informal ceasefire brokered by Egypt on June 20, which brought two days of relative quiet to southern Israel.
Early Saturday morning, the IAF struck three Palestinian terror bases in the Gaza Strip in response to continued Palestinians rocket firing into Israel. Palestinian media reported that between 17 and 21 people were wounded in the strike – the third of its kind since Friday, which according to the reports have also resulted in the death of at least one terrorist. source – JPost
