BICOM

Residents of southern Israel fled for cover overnight as Palestinian terrorists fired a barrage of rockets and mortars into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

A total of at least 34 projectiles were launched at southern Israel during the night, with an estimated twenty landing in the Eshkol region, while fourteen hit the nearby Lachish region. Three civilians, all foreign workers, were injured during the attacks and were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Beer Sheva. The Jerusalem Post reported that two of the injured were in a critical condition. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system was deployed and reportedly intercepted seven rockets fired at the city of Ashkelon and the surrounding area. Meanwhile, in light of the escalated attacks, school has been cancelled this morning in the south of the country.

The rocket attacks signify a sharp increase in violence, but followed several incidents yesterday in Gaza and southern Israel. Yesterday morning an Israeli army officer was wounded by an explosion at the Gaza border fence while conducting a routine patrol. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack. Israel’s air force responded by striking three Hamas rocket-launching cells in the Gaza Strip, which killed three of the group’s members and wounded three others. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is held responsible by Israel for terror attacks from the area, whether carried out by the organisation itself or other armed groups.

Commenting on yesterday’s violence, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The way to fight terror is to fight terror, and that we shall do with great force.” Providing a regional perspective, he continued “Today we engaged in exchanges against terrorist aggression that comes from our southern border in Gaza, but it actually comes from Iran and a whole terror network that is supporting these attacks.”