Hamas fired 10 rockets at southern Israel on Sunday night in the largest such barrage in months.
Five of the ten rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defenses, the Israel Defense Forces said, but at least one of the other five hit Ashkelon, causing damage. A 30-year-old man was lightly injured by shrapnel, and taken to the city’s Barzilai Hospital for treatment.
The Magen David Adom emergency services said that two other people were hurt while running to shelters, while several people were treated for acute anxiety following the attack.
The rockets were launched toward the coastal cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod shortly after 9 p.m. from central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, an area where the IDF has not been operating.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage shortly after it was launched.
Israel immediately vowed that the terror group would pay a heavy price. Defense Minister Israel Katz — after speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was en route to the US — said he had ordered the IDF to expand its renewed offensive against Hamas.
Following the attack, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, issued an evacuation warning for Palestinian civilians in the Deir al-Balah area, saying that it was a “final warning” before the IDF carried out strikes there.
The military then said it carried out a drone strike targeting the rocket launcher used to launch the barrage.
Footage posted to social media showed the moment of impact in Ashkelon, with the rocket appearing to strike near several high-rise apartment buildings.
Home Front Command officers were operating at the sites of rocket impacts, the military said.
Netanyahu called Katz from his Wing of Zion plane. According to his office, Netanyahu told Katz to respond harshly, approving the continuation of intensive military operations against Hamas in Gaza.
In a statement issued not long after his conversation with the premier, Katz said he had instructed the IDF to “continue and widen” the ongoing offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
He said he had told the military to “deal a very powerful blow to Hamas in Gaza in response to the [rocket] fire,” adding that “for every piece of shrapnel that hits a resident of Ashkelon, the Hamas murderers will pay a very heavy price.”
The salvo of rockets was the largest attack launched by Hamas since the collapse of the ceasefire and hostage deal last month.
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