IDF Appeals to Israelis: Don’t Believe Fake News About Attacks

The IDF on Tuesday appealed to Israelis to ignore the “fake news” that was being spread in the wake of Tuesday’s rocket attacks from Gaza. The IDF said that there had been many rumors of incidents and attacks throughout the day that were being spread on social media, and appealed to Israelis not to take these reports seriously.

As an example, the IDF spokesperson cited phone calls allegedly received by Ramat Gan residents from someone purporting to be from the Homefront Command, telling that the IDF had decided to once again distribute gas masks – implying that a chemical attack was imminent.

In its statement, the IDF said that the rumor was “simply not true. In recent hours, many incorrect news stories have been distributed in the name of the IDF. We ask everyone to act responsibly and ignore unofficial reports that were not distributed by official IDF channels.”

Between the time that rockets started falling on Israeli towns and cities Tuesday morning and a count at 1:00 p.m., over 150 missiles were fired by Gaza terrorists. The Iron Dome defense system shot down some 60 of them, most over southern Israel, but several over the Tel Aviv area, and one over Modiin, officials said.

Israeli hospitals treated about 50 people for incidents related to the rocket attacks. Some 20 were treated for light injuries resulting from shrapnel, with the rest treated for trauma. Five buildings were hit by rockets, including a factory in Sderot, as well as the offices of a chessed organization in that city. B’chasdei Shamayim, there were no serious injuries in any of the rocket strikes.

Meanwhile, rocket attacks continued Tuesday afternoon. Red Alert sirens were heard in several southern communities, including Ashdod, although there was no report of a hit. The IDF said that it was continuing to hit Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, including a gang of Islamic Jihad terrorists who were preparing to launch rockets at Israel. The army said that the attacks on terrorists would continue until rocket fire on Israel ceased completely.