BICOM

Seven Israelis including two infants were injured this morning when a missile fired from Gaza hit their home in the central Israeli village of Mishmeret, north of Kvar Saba. The house was mostly destroyed and the families two dogs were killed.

Prime Minister Netanyahu promised a forceful retaliation and decided to cut short his visit to Washington DC. He will meet with US President Donald Trump and immediately return to Israel to coordinate the government’s response. He was due to attend a White House dinner this evening and address the AIPAC conference tomorrow morning.

Israel has closed the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip and politicians were quick to respond. Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz said: “He who doesn’t respond to attacks, pays protection money to Hamas, dismisses attacks on residents of the south, and takes an attack on Tel Aviv lightly, now gets rockets in the Sharon [central region of Israel].”

Speaking on the Galatz army radio station, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, number two on the New Right party list, attacked Netanyahu for losing the ability to deter Hamas and called for her party leader Naftali Bennett to become defence minister. Retired Major General Tal Russo, number two on the Labour party list, echoed the demand for a forceful military response, whilst also attacking the government for its lack of policy to change the situation in the Gaza Strip over the last four years.

This is the second time in two weeks that missiles have been fired from the Gaza Strip at central Israel. On 14 March two missiles were fired at the Tel Aviv area but caused no damage. Hamas said the launch was a mistake caused by two maintenance workers.

The missiles that hit Israel this morning travelled between 80-100km. The Times of Israel reports that the IDF  said it was a J-80 missile, a locally manufactured missile, that was fired.

Tensions have been high on the Gaza-Israel border for weeks. Violent demonstrations are routine on the Gaza side of the border, as are the launch of incendiary balloons and improvised explosive devices. An Israeli tank hit Hamas targets in Gaza on Sunday evening.  The situation on the Gaza border is expected to escalate later this week when  Gazans demonstrate to mark the one year anniversary of the “March of Return” protests on 30 March. In another incident yesterday, Hamas prisoners in Israeli prison stabbed two prison officers and 11 prisoners were wounded in subsequent clashes.