Mortar shell explodes in yard of kindergarten as at least 28 projectiles fired on southern Israel
Published May 29, 2018
JERUSALEM (JTA) — At least 28 mortar shells were fired from Gaza on southern Israel, including one that exploded in the yard of a kindergarten shortly before students were set to arrive.
Most of the shells fired in three barrages on Tuesday morning were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Code Red warning sirens were heard throughout communities in southern Israel when the shells were fired.
It was the largest number of projectiles fired on Israel from the coastal strip since the 2014 Gaza war.
Later on Tuesday afternoon the Code Red warning system activated again in several communities.
The attack from Gaza reportedly has been linked to the death of three Islamic Jihad operatives who were killed when the Israeli military fired on a Hamas outpost in response to a bomb placed near the border fence between Israel and Gaza in an effort to blow up Israeli patrols.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad terror group, vowed revenge. “We will not relent in our duty towards the blood of those killed and know how we’ll react to this serious escalation,” the group said in a statement.
The IDF said in a statement that it was “operating in the Gaza Strip” in response to the shelling, though it did not give details.
“Israel views with utmost gravity the attacks against it and its communities by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the hours following the attacks, in an address to the he 9th Galilee Conference.
“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 also said.
“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. The kindergarten struck by a shell, and all other schools in the area opened as usual in Tuesday morning.
On Monday night, Palestinians used a machine gun to open fire from the Gaza Strip on the southern Israeli town of Sderot. The gun fire damaged several buildings and a car. It was the second attack on Sderot in two weeks.
