Twelve rockets were fired into southern Israel from Gaza over Thursday night with one hitting a house, whilst six were intercepted by the IDF’s Iron Dome.
In response Israeli warplanes carried out three rounds of airstrikes on terror targets in Gaza.
The volley of seven rockets was fired at 2:30 a.m., joining five projectiles that were shot at Israel late Thursday night, two of which failed to reach Israeli territory and three of which were shot down by the Iron Dome system, according to the military.
More Iron Dome footage over Sderot earlier, clearest one so far.
(Video: Daniel Deri) pic.twitter.com/Alpgc1JipC
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 20, 2020
The 12 rockets mark a major escalation of violence, even as tensions have ramped up over the past several weeks with sporadic rocket fire and hundreds of balloons carrying incendiary devices being launched toward Israel, drawing near daily Israeli reprisal fire.
Pictures and videos shared on social media of the home that was struck in Sderot showed a kitchen blown apart, windows smashed and large holes in walls and the roof.
“We didn’t hear the siren and suddenly there was a loud blast,” Shlomo Malka, the owner of the house, told Ynet news. “We got out of bed and ran to the bomb shelter. When we came out we saw everything was destroyed. The whole kitchen is in shambles, the food for Shabbat is ruined.”
Reports indicated that the damage was likely caused by shrapnel from an interception.
Other videos and pictures showed several Iron Dome interceptor missiles being launched over the city and light damage to the outside of a home.
From the shrapnel impact in Sderot
(Video: Roy Idan, Ynet) pic.twitter.com/Yb8s8D07NG
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 21, 2020
The Magen David Adom rescue service said three people were treated for anxiety attacks and another woman suffered light injuries sustained while running to a bomb shelter.
The Israel Defense Forces said that at around 6 a.m., fighter jets and other aircraft carried out strikes on “underground infrastructure belonging to the Hamas terror group,” in response to the attack earlier in the evening in which seven rockets were fired at southern Israel from the Strip.
In the 3rd rocket attack of the night, terrorists in Gaza launched 7 rockets at civilians in southern Israel. 6 of the 7 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome mid-air.
In response, we struck Hamas military targets in Gaza, including underground terror infrastructure.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 21, 2020
Over the past few weeks, terrorists in the enclave have again begun launching balloon-borne incendiary and explosive devices into southern Israel, sparking dozens of fires that caused environmental and property damage in the region.
Those attacks have drawn daily retaliatory Israeli strikes against Hamas installations.
Source: Times of Israel
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