150 Rockets Fired at Israel, IDF Strikes Terror Targets in Gaza

YERUSHALAYIM
Iron Dome antimissile system fires interception missiles as rockets are launched from Gaza toward Israel as seen from the city of Ashkelon, Tuesday. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired 150 rockets at Israel on Tuesday, following the assassination of a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist in Gaza.

The Iron Dome missile defense system fired approximately 20 missiles at incoming rockets.

IMG_6851

Three Israelis were reported injured as a result of the rocket attacks, including two suffering from shock, and a third injured while running to a bomb shelter.

The house in Netivot that sustained a direct hit, Tuesday. (Kostiya Kolayev)

A rocket hit a home in the southern town of Netivot, causing damage but no injuries, police said.

Shortly after 7 a.m., rocket sirens sounded in Rishon LeTzion and Holon. An hour later, sirens blared in the southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv and in the nearby Bat Yam and Holon.

One of the rockets fired from Gaza hit an intersection on Route 4, near the town of Gan Yanveh. A traffic camera video shows how the rocket narrowly misses Israeli vehicles.

Israeli security at the scene where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a road near Gan Yavneh, Tuesday. (Flash90)

In response to the rocket attacks, Israeli forces struck terrorist targets in the northern Gaza Strip.

A rocket is fired from Gaza toward Israel, Tuesday. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

According to Arab media, the Israeli retaliatory attacks targeted Hamas’ internal security headquarters in Gaza City.

An IDF source noted that the barrage of rockets being fired by Islamic Jihad in Gaza at Israeli civilians shows exactly why he was targeted in the first place. “Terror targets civilians,” he said. “We target terror.”

The rocket fire began at roughly 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, following an Israeli airstrike on the home of Baha Abu al-Ata in Gaza City.

The IDF ordered schools and nonessential businesses to be closed in southern and central Israel, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

“We are prepared for several days of battle with an aerial defense shield, including in the center of the country,” IDF spokesperson Hidai Zilberman told reporters Tuesday morning.

This is the first time that the IDF ordered a closure of schools and businesses in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge.

Hospitals and other emergency services were put on high alert in light of the ongoing rocket attacks.

Meanwhile the Ben Gurion International Airport was not affected by the closures. “Ben Gurion Airport is working as usual with no changes to the flight schedule,” a spokesman for the Israeli Airports Authority said.

Smoke rises in Gaza, Tuesday. (REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)

 

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!