Since Saturday (October 29) over 60 rockets and mortars have been fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli communities. Rockets struck Ashdod (population of over 200,000), Ashkelon (population of 113,000), Gan Yavne (population of 19,000) and the Eshkol Regional Council, killing one person and injuring approximately 30, most suffering from shock. Several buildings, including a school, were damaged in the attacks.
The latest escalation began after a Gaza rocket hit Ashdod on Wednesday, October 26. In a joint IDF and the Israel Security Agency, IAF aircraft attacked a cell of terrorists preparing to fire long-range rockets from the southern Gaza Strip. This same terrorist cell was responsible for the rockets fired at southern Israel last Wednesday. A commander of the Islamic Jihad and four of its munitions experts were killed.
On Saturday afternoon, rockets were fired from Gaza into Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gan Yavne, and around Be'er Sheva. One man was seriously wounded in Ashkelon and eventually died of his wounds. Another man was moderately wounded in the Ashdod rocket strike and three others were lightly hurt. Moreover, 17 trauma victims were reported.
As a result of the escalation, classes were canceled in Ashdod, Ashkelon and other towns in the 40-kilometer range from Gaza. Ben Gurion University in Be'er Sheva also called off classes, which were due to begin on Sunday.
Ashdod bore the brunt of the attacks, and was targeted by at least three Grad rockets. One slammed into an empty school, and a second struck in the nearby Gan Yavne Regional Council, moderately wounding a man who was searching for his son.
It set several vehicles on fire and left behind extensive wreckage. The flames were doused by Israel Fire and Rescue crews, who also broke into homes in nearby buildings to rescue residents.
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