Israel Hits Back After Gaza Rocket Damages Be’er Sheva House

YERUSHALAYIM
Israeli security forces at the scene where a building was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Be’er Sheva, Wednesday. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

One Gaza Arab terrorist was dead Wednesday morning after IDF forces hit a terror gang that was preparing to fire a rocket at Israel, after another rocket hit Be’er Sheva earlier, severely damaging a house. During the Israeli raid on the gang in Rafiach, Red Alert sirens sounded in the Ashkelon area, but there was no counterattack by Gaza terrorists.

Sirens sounded in the Be’er Sheva area early Wednesday, as Gaza terrorists fired two rockets at Israel. One hit the backyard of a house in Be’er Sheva and the other fell into the sea off the Israeli coast. Several people in Be’er Sheva were treated for injuries sustained as they fell while rushing to get into a bomb shelter, while several children were treated for shock. Three of the children were in the home that was damaged when the rocket hit the backyard, causing heavy damage to the house.

In the wake of the attack, classes in schools and sessions in day care centers in Be’er Sheva and the Gaza border area were canceled. IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkott, currently on a visit to the United States, is cutting that visit short to more closely supervise the events in Israel. In a press conference Wednesday morning, IDF officials told reporters that the army had hit 20 terror targets after the Be’er Sheva attack, including Hamas terror tunnels, weapons workshops, and the entrance to an underwater terror tunnel.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad denied responsibility for the rocket firing, saying that it was the doing of “rogue groups,” but the IDF spokesperson said Israel did not accept that excuse. “Only two groups in Gaza have rockets capable of reaching that far into Israel, and they are Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” the spokesperson said.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will conduct a meeting on the situation in the south with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and other top officials, his office said. A security cabinet meeting that had been set for Wednesday has been canceled.

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