7 injured, including 2 infants, in Gaza rocket attack on central Israel
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck a residential building in central Israel early Monday morning, injuring seven people, including two small children, and leveling the structure, officials said.Home in Central Israel Hit by Hamas Rocket
The attack triggered air raid sirens at approximately 5:20 a.m. throughout the Sharon and Emek Hefer regions north of Tel Aviv, the army said.
According to the military, the rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip, where earlier this month two rockets were also fired at Tel Aviv, in what was described at the time as an apparent “mistake” by the Hamas terror group.
The Iron Dome missile defense system did not appear to have been activated by the rocket attack. The military said it was still investigating the matter.
An infant’s swing outside the home of the Wolf family in the central Israeli village of Mishmeret, which was destroyed in the early morning hours of March 25, 2019 by a rocket fired from Gaza. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Police said the projectile early Monday struck a residential building in the community of Mishmeret, on the Sharon plain, causing it to catch fire. The shrapnel from the rocket attack also caused significant damage to the surrounding area, as fragments hit a gas tank outside the building.
Drone footage of the site showed that the majority of the structure, which contained two housing units, had been flattened by the strike.
'I would be burying my family if we hadn’t gotten to the bomb shelter'
Luck and miracles saved the seven members of the Wolf family from certain death, when a rocket destroyed their home in Moshav Mishmeret just before 6 a.m.
“I nearly lost my family,” said Robert Wolf, as he stood outside the shell of his house, on a tree-lined street with single family homes in the middle of the country, close to Kfar Saba.
“If we had not gotten to the bomb shelter in time, I would now be burying all my family,” said Wolf, who immigrated to Israel from England with his wife Susan. “That is two grandchildren, one 5 months old, one 2 years old. That would be my third child, with his wife, my wife, myself and my youngest daughter. They would all have been dead if we didn't do what we had been supposed to do.”
Owner of home hit by rocket blames 'games of politicians', March 25, 2019 (Tovah Lazaroff)
At Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba where most of the family was treated for light injuries, his son Daniel spoke with reporters about those fatal moments.
By chance, Daniel said, he had slept in the living room and heard the siren. He woke up his parents and younger sister, who were able to find shelter.
🔴🎥 FOOTAGE FROM THE SCENE where a rocket fired from #Gaza this morning hit a residential building in central Israel, north of Tel aviv. Several Israelis were injured.
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) March 25, 2019
🎥Dan Asulin pic.twitter.com/OCkXps9jOe
#BREAKING Latest #Gaza long-range rocket & destruction SUGGESTS the rocket was of M-302 variety with a range of 160 km & 144 kg warhead.
— Lenny Ben-David (@lennybendavid) March 25, 2019
Rocket comes from the #Iran-#Syria-Hizbullah industries.
In 2014 the IDF intercepted a shipload of M-302s on the Klos-C ship heading to Gaza pic.twitter.com/wy6jUrf6b5
No @cnni, the rocket didn’t just ‘land.’ Planes land, birds land. This rocket took out a house. #HeadlineFail pic.twitter.com/VWZVUtDhEK
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) March 25, 2019