Israel Matzav

Rockets fired from Gaza on Israel's south again (with videos)

Israel Radio is reporting that there is no school anywhere within 40 km (25 miles) of Gaza on Sunday, as 'Palestinian' rocket fire has hit Ashdod, Gan Yavne and Ashkelon. So much for 'Iron Dome.'

Here's a videotape that Islamic Jihad released of the rockets being fired. Let's go to the videotape.



Note, five rockets in nine seconds, which is why Iron Dome is ineffective (we saw that during the summer).

There were two rounds of rocket fire. One around 5:00 this afternoon and one around 7:00 this evening.

Hours after the IDF killed a terrorist cell which was behind the Grad rocket attack on south Israel earlier this week, three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at southern communities on Saturday. A couple of hours later there was a second rocket barrage. The MDA declared a mass-casualty event.

A man in his 50s was hit by shrapnel sustaining light wounds. He was hit while out searching for his son and was taken to the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot. One of the rockets landed in a school courtyard in Ashdod causing no injuries. Another landed in an open area near Be'er Tuvia. Later, two mortar shells were fired at the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries were reported. Another rocket fired towards the Negev exploded in an open field near Bnei Shimon Regional Council.

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A couple of hours later, an additional barrage from Gaza was noted. One rocket hit an 5-story residential building in Ashdod. One person was lightly injured and several suffered anxiety attacks. Damage was caused to the building and several vehicles caught fire. Shortly thereafter a rocket hit a house in Ashkelon. There were no injuries.

The rocket exploded some two meters from the building itself with shrapnel hitting the structure. Vehicles parked outside the building suffered the greatest damage. MDA forces and firefighters are working at the scene. Sappers removed the rocket parts.

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Minutes before the rocket launch, the Home Front Command instructed residents of the Gaza vicinity areas to remain near fortified areas following in the wake of the IAF attack in Gaza.

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz held a status evaluation with various IDF senior officials and is slated to convene the General Staff's operations forum to discuss implications and a possible reaction. The IDF stressed that the attack on the Islamic Jihad cell was carried out in order to prevent further rocket fire at Israel and not as a direct response to the attack the cell mounted on the Ashdod area earlier this week.

The Home Front Command reissued emergency guidelines and canceled gatherings and conferences of over 500 people in Beersheba, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gan Yavne and Yavne.

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Palestinian sources reported Saturday that at least five terrorists were killed and 11 others were wounded after the Air Force struck an Islamic Jihad cell in the Gaza Strip Saturday.

Military officials said the killed terrorists were members of a cell that fired a Grad rocket at Israel earlier this week. The IDF and Shin Bet joined forces in the strike, which saw an Air Force aircraft firing at the terror cells, the army's spokesman said.

One of the terrorists killed is Ahmed Sheikh Khalil, a senior commander in the al-Quds Brigades. Nicknamed 'Abu Hader,' Khalil was a member of the Islamic Jihad's engineering and production unit. In a text message to reporters, the group said it would take revenge for the attack.

Here's some raw video from Ashdod this evening.

Let's go to the videotape.



If this continues, the IDF will have no choice but to embark on another Operation Cast Lead.

Labels: Ashdod, Gan Yavne, Grad rocket, Islamic Jihad

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:57 PM