A man was killed and two women were seriously injured after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip scored a direct hit on an apartment building in Ashkelon.
The fatality was the first in Israel after a day that saw more than 300 missiles and mortar rounds fired at Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip in a series of massive barrages that stretched past midnight Monday and into Tuesday morning.
The man, in his 40s, was found dead under debris as rescuers searched through the apartment building that had been hit by a missile fired from Gaza shortly after midnight, according to reports.
The rocket appeared to hit the upper floors of the four-story apartment building, leaving a gaping hole in its side.
A woman, also in her 40s, was found in serious condition in the apartment building and was rushed to Barzilai hospital.
Authorities were continuing searches in the building to ascertain if anybody else was trapped inside.
Rescuers earlier pulled out a 60-year-old woman in critical condition from the same building.
She was found unresponsive in one of the apartments, suffering from injuries throughout her body caused by shrapnel from the rocket, medics said.
A 40-year-old man was also moderately wounded by shrapnel; two women in their 20s were lightly injured by glass shards; and two men in their 40s and a woman in her 90s were treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at the scene, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
Ashkelon suffered several missile barrages late Monday, with a home also being hit. One person suffered light injuries from that attack.
Strikes on buildings in Netivot and Sderot caused significant damage and minor injuries to the occupants, and sparked fires in the surrounding area.
The rocket attacks, which began with several large barrages on small towns near the Gaza border in the afternoon, have threatened to ratchet up tensions in the restive region, casting a shadow over intensive ceasefire efforts.
The IDF said dozens of incoming projectiles from Gaza were shot down by the Iron Dome air defense system. Most of the rest landed in open fields outside Israeli communities, but a number struck homes and buildings in cities and towns across the south.
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