Since early Tuesday morning, over 34 rockets and mortar shells were fired from northern Gaza Strip at Israel. In one Palestinian rocket attack on Gedara, rocket shrapnel lightly wounded a three-month-old girl in a residential building where the rocket struck.
In Sderot, a Palestinian rocket fell on a busy main street, right beside several main bus stops, located a few meters away from the pharmacy and theater. A taxi driver on scene, told Sderot Media Center that he was pulling out of the bus stop on the way to Tel Aviv, when he heard the Tzeva Adom alert sound. The eight passengers in his vehicle immediately got off and ran into the shelter. He followed through, and a few seconds later, he heard a tremendous explosion. The Palestinian rocket landed only a couple of meters away.
The rocket explosion caused damage to vehicles parked in the area and several people experienced shock. The window in the taxi driver’s vehicle completely shattered upon impact of the rocket explosion.
Earlier in the day a Palestinian rocket slammed nearby the Sderot Peretz Shopping Mall Center. The Tzeva Adom set off at least 10 times throughout the day as rocket explosions vibrated throughout the city.
Video: Meital Ohayon
At around noon eight Qassam rockets landed in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council, Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, and Sdot Negev. Three more rockets landed in open areas near Sderot. There were no reports of injury or damage in either attack.
Be’er Sheva also experienced two Grad rocket attacks.
Earlier Tuesday, six Qassams landed in open areas in the Eshkol and Sha’ar Hanegev regional councils, while another rocket fell in an open area near Netivot. Two more rockets fired from Gaza overnight landed within the Eshkol Regional Council’s limits, causing no injury or damage.
Over 40 Palestinian rockets struck southern Israel on Monday, hitting civilian populated areas in the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba. One Palestinian Grad rocket slammed into an empty kindergarten in Ashdod, causing heavy damage to the buildings in the vicinity of the rocket explosion.
The Ashdod kindergarten was closed thanks to instructions from the Israel Home Front Command to keep schools and kindergartens within 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip closed.
Ashkelon was also struck by rockets on Monday, as five Grads slammed into the city, damaging several structures and sending several people into shock. Another Gaza rocket struck Be’er Sheva, two others hit Kiryat Malachi, seven landed in Netivot and seven others in Ofakim.
Several more rockets hit Sderot, with one crashing into the Sderot market and another, into the courtyard of a house under construction.
Over 340 Palestinian rockets have been fired at southern Israel since Operation Cast Lead began 11 days ago. Over 80 rockets have hit Ashkelon in that time period, a city of 110, 000 people.
*Jerusalem Post and YNet News contributed to this report.
