Barrage of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli border communities
Rocket falls in yard of local Israeli kindergarten; One person lightly injured by shrapnel
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of more than two dozen rockets towards southern Israeli communities in three rounds of attacks that sent residents scurrying to bomb shelters early Tuesday morning as tensions flared on the volatile border.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that "25 mortar shells were launched towards several sites in Israeli territory" in the initial barrage around 07:00 a.m., with the majority intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
A number of the mortars landed inside Israeli territory, including one which hit the empty yard of a local kindergarten just hours before children were due to arrive.
Shortly after the initial salvo, two further rounds of rockets were launched from Gaza. At least three projectiles fell in open areas in Israeli territory in the second and third attacks.
One person was lightly injured by shrapnel in the shoulder, and was taken to the Soroka medical center in Beersheba for treatment. No other injuries or significant material damages were reported.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman each called for urgent security consultations with top officials following the attack.
Shortly after, Israeli jets pounded a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the central Gaza Strip.
"Israel views with utmost gravity the attacks against it and its communities by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu told a conference shortly before the air strikes began.
"The IDF will respond with great force to these attacks. Israel will exact a heavy price from anyone who tries to attack it, and we view Hamas as responsible for preventing such attacks against us," he added.
Israel blamed the attacks on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, saying that they were likely carried out with Hamas' backing.
An Islamic Jihad spokesman praised the Tuesday morning rocket barrage as a "blessed retaliation of resistance," but stopped short of officially claiming the attacks on behalf of the group.
"Our people's blood is not cheap and Israel can't continue spilling it without deterrence," the spokesman said.
The group had vowed revenge for the deaths of three members killed in an IDF artillery strike in response to the detonation of an explosive device on the border fence on Sunday.
Schools in the region were set to open as usual despite the attacks, and the IDF instructed residents to return to routine.
“At this point, there are no special instructions for residents of the Gaza periphery. Please continue to listen to the instructions of the Home Front Command,” the army said in a statement.
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The rocket salvo came less than 12-hours after heavy machine gun fire from Gaza struck a number of houses and vehicles in the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Monday evening, once again triggering rocket alert sirens.
The incident was another in a string of Israeli-Palestinian exchanges that took place just on Monday, with IDF tanks responding to an earlier episode of Gaza gunfire targeting soldiers on the border.
Tensions along the border have been high since weekly "Great March of Return" demonstrations kicked off on March 30.
The protests have seen an uptick in gunfire, planting of explosive devices, the launching of incendiary devices affixed to kites across the border, and breaches of the heavily fortified security fence along the Israel-Gaza border.
Israel has controversially responded with live fire against protesters who approach the border fence, with more than 120 Palestinians killed since the protests began.
Israel says its actions are necessary to defend its borders and accuses Hamas of encouraging thousands of Palestinians to break through the border and attack Israelis.
The protests have called for Palestinians who fled or were expelled in the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation to be allowed to return to their former homes now inside Israel.
They peaked on May 14, when at least 61 Palestinians were killed as tens of thousands of Gazans protested and clashes erupted on the same day of the US transfer of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
See also:
Analysis: Palestinian Islamic Jihad is like a grenade in a Gaza gas station
EU says ‘indiscriminate’ Gaza rocket fire should be condemned ‘unreservedly’