Click here to watch: Rockets Raining Down on Southern Israel
Gaza terrorists continued to increase the range of their rocket attacks on Saturday, targeting Beersheba for the first time since November 2012. Three rockets were fired at the city on Saturday evening, setting off warning sirens in the largest town in southern Israel. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, while two fell in open fields. There were no reports of casualties. The attack on Beersheba, which has a population of 200,000, marked a significant escalation in the Gaza rocket attacks, and which could lead to a severe Israeli response. The last time the city was targeted was during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, which the IDF launched in order to curb persistent rocket fire from Gaza. Many Israeli cities including Ashkelon, Ashdod and even Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were targeted with rockets during that conflict. Over the course of eight days, some 1,500 airstrikes were carried out against terrorist installations and other targets. Six Israelis and 167 Palestinians were killed during the operation. Shortly after the attack on Beersheba Saturday, five more rockets were fired towards the Hof Ashkelon and Eshkol regions. Three of them were intercepted by Iron Dome while two fell in open areas. The town of Ofakim was also targeted in an earlier salvo. In all, over 20 rockets and mortar shells had been fired into Israel by nightfall on Saturday, causing no significant damage, though a soldier was lightly wounded by mortar fire. Israeli aircraft targeted three Hamas terror targets in the southern Gaza Strip early Saturday evening. Palestinian media reported no injuries in the airstrikes near the city of Rafah.
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The previous IDF strikes had taken place on Friday evening, also restricted to three Hamas targets with no casualties. The seemingly limited Israeli response to the continuing rocket salvos appeared to indicate that Jerusalem was still waiting to see whether Hamas would curb the rocket-fire as reports proliferated of an impending ceasefire agreement. However, with the attack on Beersheba, Israeli patience could now be wearing thin. The persistent rocket fire came despite Egyptian efforts to broker a renewed truce between Israel and Hamas in and around Gaza following a flare-up of cross-border violence since the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers on June 12. Former military intelligence chief, Amos Yadlin, now director of the Institute for National Security Studies, had said early Saturday that Hamas was wary of launching rockets deeper into Israel, at Beersheba or the center of the country, which, he argued, indicated that Israel has not lost its deterrent power. “There is no doubt that we are facing another round [of violence] with Hamas. We will take action when Hamas crosses the line and the next round will be significant, and will involve ground and air campaign,” he said.
Source: Times of Israel
