Saturday, August 23, 2014

Rockets Fired Into Israel From Syria, Lebanon.








At least five rockets were fired from Syria at the northern Golan Heights Saturday overnight, after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an empty house in the Western Galilee earlier.


Rocket alert sirens blared through the Golan Heights at least three times around 1:30am in short intervals. All of the rockets hit open areas, while three of them hit close to communities in the northern Golan. There were no reports of wounded.

Earlier Saturday night, two people were lightly wounded from rocket shrapnel in Be'er Sheva on Saturday night after two rockets hit a parking lot and a park in the city, police said.

Lebanese reports indicated that two rockets had been fired into Israel from Dheira in southern Lebanon, three kilometers from the border with Israel. According to the reports, security forces from Lebanon began searching for the locations from where the rockets were fired.

A Lebanese source said IAF helicopters were seen flying over the area of ​​the border.


Some 100 rockets were fired at Israel on Saturday, with one of the rockets hitting a communal dining hall in Nahal Oz, the very same kibbutz in which 4-year-old Daniel Tregerman was killed from a mortar hit the day before. Damage was caused to the structure, but fortunately there were no injuries.

At least one rocket was intercepted over Petah Tikvah in a rocket volley at central Israel on Saturday evening, with shrapnel falling the yard of a house. Three rockets were intercepted earlier over Ashkelon and shrapnel from the interceptions caused damage to buildings in the city. Another rocket shot down over Sdot Negev. One rocket hit an open area in Sdot Negev, one in Be'er Tuviya that started a fire, and three in open areas in Eshkol and another hitting a cowshed.

Rocket fire inceased in the late afternoon, with seven rockets hitting open areas in Eshkol and two inside communities, one of which caused light damage to a storage space. Six rockets hit Sdot Negev while four were intercepted by the Iron Dome over Hof Ashkelon.

In the early afternoon, 1 rocket landed inside a community in Eshkol, causing damage to houses while another landed near the border fence inside the regional council's area. No one was hurt. One rocket landed in an open area in Sdot Negev, while three rockets were intercepted over Ashdod, Ashkelon and Hof Ashkelon.

Around noontime, two rockets hit open areas in Sdot Negev, while another hit inside a community in Eshkol. One woman was treated by paramedics for shock.

Sirens sounded multiple times around noontime in the Sha'ar HaNegev, Sdot Negev and Eshkol Regional Councils. One rocket exploded in a small forest near one of the communities, causing a fire to erupt.

Five other rockets exploded inside communities in Eshkol, causing damage to property, including agricultural machinery, tractors and houses. One woman suffered from an anxiety attack after a rocket hit in the area. Another rocket was intercepted above Ashkelon.









Sirens sounded in the Akko (Acre) region and the Galilee on Saturday night, amid a constant slew of rocket fire on the Negev from Gaza. 
One rocket struck the Upper Galilee; no injuries or damage have been reported.
The IDF has now confirmed that the rocket was fired from southern Lebanon. Initial reports stated that the rocket hit an area near Akko, but updated information has corrected this to an unspecified point in the Upper Galilee. 
Since Operation Protective Edge began 47 days ago, at least nine have been fired into Israel from Lebanon; the Lebanese Army arrested several terrorists involved in at least one salvo on the Galilee, but also complained to mediating body UNIFIL after the IAF responded to the attacks. 

Earlier Saturday night, several volleys were fired at the Gush Dan (Tel Aviv) and Coastal regions; the Iron Dome intercepted two rockets over Tel Aviv. No injuries or damage were reported. 

More than 90 rockets were fired into southern Israel on Saturday, with a focus on Gaza Belt communities. Dozens of rockets were fired toward Sderot, Ashkelon, Nahal Oz, Yad Mordehai, Be'er Sheva, and the surrounding communities; no injuries were reported. 
The most recent volley of rockets did hit the Be'er Sheva city center, however; one rocket strike in the major urban area was reported, and two additional rockets fell in open fields. No injuries have been reported, but photos are circulating on Twitter of damaged cars
The IDF announced Saturday night that it had attacked more than 100 terror targets in Gaza over the weekend, including 40 missiles, twenty military war rooms or offices of Hamas commanders, and several launchers from homes and mosques. 







If no deal in next few days, renewed ground offensive expected


After Communications Minister Gilad Erdan said Saturday night that a new ground offensive “is closer than ever,” Channel 10 quoted unnamed diplomatic and military sources saying much the same thing, with more detail.
If no long-term arrangement is reached “within a few days” in Cairo, “on Israel’s terms,” the TV report said, then the army will move “to the next stage… a renewed ground offensive.”
This could take the form of incursions “in one or more areas… designed to harm Hamas” with the troops then “coming back out.”
The goal, as ever, would be to create conditions to ensure long-term calm for Israel. “No one is talking of reconquering the Strip,” the report says.

Rockets explode in Golan Heights amid clashes over the border



At least five rockets fired from Syria landed in open areas in the Golan Heights, inflicting no injuries or damage.
A Syrian rebel source indicates that Syrian Army forces launched a massive attack on opposition forces near the Israeli border, and some of those projectiles may have crossed into Israeli territory, triggering alarms in towns near the border with the Golan Heights.





 Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a 12-story apartment tower in downtown Gaza City on Saturday, collapsing the building, sending a huge fireball into the sky and wounding at least 22 people, including 11 children, witnesses and Palestinian officials in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave said.


Israel has launched some 5,000 airstrikes in Gaza in nearly seven weeks of fighting with Hamas, but Saturday’s strike marked the first time an entire high-rise was toppled.

The explosion shook nearby buildings.

Gaza police say Israeli aircraft fired a warning missile at the roof of the tower at dusk, followed five minutes later by two missiles with explosives.

The Israeli army warned Gazans on Friday and Saturday to evacuate buildings where elements of Hamas’s war machine are located.

Ayman Sahabani, the head of the emergency room at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, said at least 22 people were wounded, including 11 children and five women.

The leveling of the tower was a further sign of escalation following a breakdown of Egyptian-brokered ceasefire talks and the collapse of a temporary truce on Tuesday after Hamas resumed rocket fire on Israel.



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