Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of more than 50 rockets at southern Israel on Thursday, one of which scored a direct hit on an eight-floor residential building in the northern Negev city of Ashdod, nearly 40 kilometers from the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.
The strike on the Ashdod apartment house caused a fire to erupt in the building and seriously damaged the top floor. Rescue workers evacuated all residents, fearing that the building would collapse. The incident ended without physical injuries and the damaged structure still intact.
Four Grad rockets exploded a few minutes after the Ashdod strike in the city of Ashkelon and about two more struck the city a few hours later. No casualties were reported in any of those incidents.
Three rockets struck the western Negev town of Sderot early Thursday afternoon. There were no reports of casualties in those strikes.
Another barrage was fired at Ashdod and Ashkelon in the middle of the afternoon, and another eight rockets exploded in Be’er Sheva toward evening.
Israel Air Force aircraft struck a mosque in Jabaliya late Thursday night used as a terror-hub by the Hamas terror organization as a meeting place for its operatives and a staging ground for terror attacks, the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office said in a statement.
“The IDF will continue to attack any target used for terrorist activity, and will not hesitate to strike those involved in terrorism against the citizens of the State of Israel, even if they deliberately choose to operate from locations of religious or cultural significance,” the statement went on to say.
Earlier Thursday, an Israeli aircraft killed a high-ranking Hamas official in Gaza in the first major assassination since the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead on Saturday.
In addition to the assassination, the Israel Air Force bombed several other Hamas targets.
Awaiting a decision by the political leadership, ground forces of the IDF are in the final stages of preparations for an invasion into Gaza, and the army has amassed the forces outside the Strip in formation for a rapid deployment in the area as soon as the order is given.
-Ha’aretz
