WarSclerotic

Man injured in Ashkelon rocket attack dies fro… JPost – Defense.

    One man was killed and four people wounded when southern Israel was bombarded with long-range Grad rockets by Islamic Jihad in Gaza on Saturday. The barrage came after five terrorists were killed in IAF strikes on targets in the Strip.

The man was badly injured by shrapnel from a rocket fired at a residential neighborhood in Ashkelon. He was rushed to the Barzilai Medical Center in the city for emergency care, but doctors were unable to save his life. A second rocket fired at Ashkelon directly struck a home, setting gas containers on fire. Fire crews doused the flames.

Security chiefs searched for a way to contain the situation on Saturday, as the Air Force went into action to strike terror cells preparing rockets for launch in northern and southern Gaza. At least two rocket cells were bombed, killing two terrorists, and a number of launch sites were hit as well.

Schools in Ashdod, Beersheba and Kiryat Malachi were cancelled by local officials, and the IDF Home Front Command has asked members of the public who live in areas up to 40 kilometers from Gaza to stay within close range of protected areas.

On Saturday, least 20 projectiles, including Grads and mortar shells were fired at southern cities, hitting built-up areas in Ashdod, Ashkelon and regional councils across the region. A number of the rockets caused extensive damage to buildings.

Ashdod bore the brunt of the attack, and was targeted by at least three Grad rockets. One slammed into an empty school, and a second fell in the nearby Gan Yavne Regional Council, moderately injuring a man who was searching for his son outside.

TV footage showed a bloodstained pavement where the man had sustained the injury, before running indoors and contacting paramedics.

A third rocket slammed into a parking lot in between two multi-story residential buildings in Ashdod.

“Ashdod is under attack, without a doubt,” said the city’s mayor, Yehiel Lari. The latter rocket set several vehicles on fire and left behind extensive wreckage. The flames were doused by Israel Fire and Rescue crews, who also broke into homes in nearby buildings to rescue civilians.

“This was a miracle. It could have ended much worse,” Magen David Adom Director-General Eli Bin said.