Gaza’s Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups pulled out the long-range rockets in the wee hours of Thursday morning, targeting Israeli communities from south to north, the Mediterranean coast and the coastal plains.
Red Alert rocket sirens awakened sleeping Israelis — at least those who went to bed — sending them back to the bomb shelters for another night of “up-and-down” with barrages fired at Israelis at 1 am and again at close to 2 am. A third barrage was fired from Gaza at around 2:30 am.
One rocket slammed into the space between two apartment buildings in Petach Tikva, setting off gas cylinders outside the buildings, which burst into flames. Most of the vehicles parked beneath the buildings went up in flames, fed by the gasoline from cars that were parked beneath. Five people were wounded in the attack, most of them elderly; two suffered from smoke inhalation and three others sustained shrapnel wounds.
The flames were swiftly extinguished by Israeli firefighters.
Residents of communities as far east as Efrat, as far north as Netanya and as far south as as Ashkelon heard the “booms” of Iron Dome interceptions of those rockets that were heading for populated areas. The loud “boom” of the Iron Dome anti-missile system was heard in multiple other locations.
Israel’s Channel 12 News reported two people with injuries in Tel Aviv, both while running for a bomb shelter.
In Rishon Lezion, one building was hit, and an apartment was damaged, but no physical injuries were reported and no people suffering from trauma or anxiety. The family was safely in its “mamad” — the built-in bomb shelter that is now part of standard Israeli building codes.
Israeli forces have not been idle either, however. The IDF said troops struck a Hamas naval force cell; fighter pilots were still in the air carrying out non-stop air strikes targeting terrorist positions and for the first time, also Hamas’ financial institutions and other symbols of the Hamas government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday night that operations in Gaza will continue for at least another week, according to Israel’s Channel N12 News.
IDF Home Front Command issued an order Wednesday cancelling all classes across the country until at least Friday, and permitting workers to go to their workplaces only if there is a bomb shelter close by.
