Israel intercepts Gaza rocket as hostilities renew day after heavy exchanges haaretz.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from haaretz.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Sirens alerted Gaza’s Israeli neighbors to a 35-rocket barrage fired in 10 salvos overnight Friday and early Saturday, April 23-24. Five were shot down by Iron Dome. The rest exploded on vacant ground. Palestinian terrorist organizations based in the Gaza Strip issued a joint statement in support of more than a week of street violence in Jerusalem mounted by Palestinian youths against Orthodox Jews, including attempted lynching. Early Saturday, the communities of the Eshkol, Sdot Negev, Shaar Henegev and Hof Ashkelon councils were told stay close to shelters indoors, as Israeli planes and tanks went into action before morning against Hamas rocket launchers, underground structures and bases. Residents were advised to refrain from attending synagogue Saturday morning. The Zikkim beach was closed.
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel s military correspondent.
Illustrative: An Israeli missile launched from an Iron Dome missile defense system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, is seen above Gaza City on November 13, 2019. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)
Palestinian terrorists launched multiple rockets toward southern Israel on Saturday night, one of which was shot down while another struck an open field, as attacks from the enclave continued into a second day and threatened to intensify.
Several projectiles failed to clear the border and landed inside the Strip.
The first rocket attack came at 9 p.m., triggering sirens in the town of Sderot and nearby communities, sending residents into bomb shelters. Soldiers operating the Iron Dome shot down the incoming projectile, the Israel Defense Forces said.
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Israeli boys examine the site where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel, April 24, 2021 (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Men stand in front of a building baring traces of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, in the kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel, adjacent to the Palestinian enclave, on April 24, 2021 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Israeli tanks are stationed along the Israel-Gaza border, on April 24, 2021 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Iron Dome defense missile systems are pictured in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, on April 24, 2021 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
Remains of a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip near houses on a kibbutz in southern Israel on April 24, 2021 (Flash90)
Bolstering Iron Dome, IDF threatens harsh response to Gaza rockets
Security cabinet meets after south battered by multiple barrages overnight and Jerusalem clashes resume; army chief cancels U.S. trip to monitor situation; I have ordered preparations for any scenario, says Netanyahu
Yoav Zitun, Itamar Eichner |
Updated: 04.24.21 , 20:02
The IDF decided Saturday to reinforce the Iron Dome missile defense system located across southern Israel, after the communities close to the Gaza Strip border were pounded by dozens of rockets from the Palestinian enclave overnight.
A source in Jerusalem, meanwhile, warned that Israel will respond severely to rocket fire from Gaza.