Iron Dome Intercepts 6 Rockets Over Ashkelon; South Girds for More

YERUSHALAYIM
Iron dome anti-missile system fires interception missiles as rockets fired from the Gaza Strip to Ashkelon, Israel, May 10, 2021. (Edi Israel/Flash90)

Rocket barrages from Gaza pummeled southern Israel on Monday night, as terrorist groups made good on threats to respond to what they termed Israeli “crimes and aggression” in Yerushalayim.

The Iron Dome defense system shot down about six rockets aimed at Ashkelon, the IDF said.

B’chasdei shamayim, no serious injuries were reported.

In Ashkelon, two people had to be taken to Barzilai Medical Center in the city to be treated for shock.

Hamas claimed that 100 rockets were fired into Israel throughout the evening, most of them aimed at Gaza border communities.

Hospitals in the south were put on emergency footing. Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center began moving patients to fortified wards. A Soroka spokesperson said the hospital has opened an emergency command center and has put all critical staff on stand-by.

Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center has similarly gone on emergency protocol, moving premature babies to a special underground ward and canceling all non-critical procedures.

Central Israel was preparing for attacks as well. Tel Aviv and its environs, including Rishon LeTzion and Ramat Gan, announced the opening of public bomb shelters in case they come into range of the Gaza rocket fire.

The Coordinator of Government Operations in the Occupied Territories, Major General Rassan Aliyan, announced Monday night that after security consultations, it was decided to immediately close the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip until further notice.

Following the last barrage of missiles, a house in one of the Shaar HaNegev settlements suffered a direct hit and was damaged.

A rescue team mobile intensive care team provided assistance to a a person who suffered a minor injury when a rocket hit a building in one of the Shaar HaNegev localities.

Police forces and sappers were on their way to one of the settlements in the Shaar HaNegev area following a report of a rocket falling near the house.

A rocket caused an open-air fire in a new residential neighborhood in Sderot, and b’chasdei Hashem there were no injuries. Firefighters are on the scene.

(Video: Ofir Assulin, Sderot Municipality)

Damage of the rocket which fell in Shaar HaNegev. (Shaar HaNegev Municipality)
(Shaar HaNegev Municipality)

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