WarSclerotic

Tensions continued to rise along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip earlier Wednesday, as Gaza militants fired a Grad-type Katyusha rocket at the southern city of Be’er Sheva early Wednesday, mere hours after another Grad exploded south of the coastal city of Ashdod.

According to initial reports, the Grad rocket struck a street in the middle of one of the city’s residential areas. Upon impact, a piece of shrapnel penetrated a nearby third-floor apartment, moderately wounding one man.

	Security forces gather around the place the Grad rocket fell in Be’er Sheva on February 23, 2011.
	Photo by: Eli Hershkovitz

The attack came after a Grad rocket fired from Gaza exploded south of Ashdod on Tuesday, following after a day of escalation along the border. The IDF later issued a statement claiming that an Israel Air Force craft fired at figures suspected in launching the Katyusha-type rocket, killing one.

At least seven Palestinians, including four civilians, were killed earlier Tuesday during heavy exchanges of fire between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip, in one of the most serious rounds of fighting near the Strip since the end of Operation Cast Lead in January 2009.

At around 4 P.M., four mortars were fired at kibbutzim Alumim and Sa’ad, landing in open areas and causing no injuries. The IDF fired mortars at the launching point, apparently hitting the Palestinians behind the launches but also hitting 12 Palestinian civilians, killing at least four.

Later in the evening, a few more mortars and a Grad rocket were fired at Ashkelon. There were no injuries.

An investigation by the IDF’s Gaza Division showed an IDF radar identified that mortars had been launched. Based on the events of the weekend, when Israel was hit by over 50 rockets, it was believed that another barrage was on the way that could hit Israeli homes.

The order was given to fire at the source of the Palestinian mortar fire. One of the four mortars the IDF fired at the launch point in an olive grove strayed and hit a house about 80 meters away.

Speaking in the incident’s wake, Hamas Gaza officials threatened to retaliate on for the civilian deaths, with Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan saying that “the brutal crime of today will not pass without a response by the resistance.”

“Israel is escalating against our people and the whole world should show their responsibility to stop this escalation,” Radwan added.

Last month, two Grad rockets were fired at Be’er Sheva, with one of them hitting a home in a residential area. The rockets marked the first time that Be’er Sheva was hit since the Gaza war in 2009.