Palestinian terrorists fired 60 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel Wednesday morning, injuring five and sending local residents fleeing for cover. IAF strikes targeting Palestinian rocket-launching squads killed three Hamas operatives but did little to stem the flow of rockets.The three injured foreign workers were hit while at a chicken coop - or, as Hamas calls it, a "military site."'
Of the projectiles fired by the terrorists, 22 landed in the Eshkol region while 21 landed in the Lachish region, according to the Israel Police. An additional 10 rockets landed in the South on Wednesday morning. The Iron Dome intercepted seven rockets, according to the IDF. The barrage followed 10 rockets fired on Tuesday evening, making a total of 77.
Two of the victims, foreign workers, suffered critical injuries and were evacuated via helicopter to Soroka Medical Center. Two more victims were lightly hurt, and one was being treated for shock, according to MDA.
IDF Home Front command instructed residents living within 10 km of Gaza to remain indoors and take shelter.
Air raid sirens went off during the attacks and local residents fled for cover. Southern municipalities canceled schools amid the ongoing escalation. Police have heightened patrols around Gaza in the south, including bomb sappers to deal with the heightened threat.
The IAF carried out an air strike around 7 a.m. Wednesday morning following three operations overnight, each striking rocket-launching cells in the northern and southern Gaza Strip. Hamas said that three of its operatives were killed in the strikes, and another three injured. The IDF also launched tank fire at targets in southern Gaza on Wednesday morning.
A number of houses were hit in Israel.
Hamas has instructed all their police/terrorists to evacuate their "security" buildings.
Palestinian Arab newspapers are quite pleased with the damage and injuries to Israeli civilians.
Hamas' Palestine Times is liveblogging, and says that 6 Gazans have been killed so far. I have verified that at least three are terrorists.