WarSclerotic

Palestinian terrorists fired 50 rockets and mortars into southern Israel Wednesday morning, injuring five and sending local residents fleeing for cover. IAF strikes targeting Palestinian rocket-launching squads killed three Hamas operatives but did little to stem the flow of rockets at Israel’s south.

Of the projectiles fired by the terrorists, 22 landed in the Eshkol region while 21 landed in the Lachish region, according to the Israel Police. The Iron Dome intercepted seven rockets, according to an IDF spokesman. The barrage follows 10 rockets fired on Tuesday evening, for a total of 67.

Two of he victims, foreign workers, suffered critical injuries and were evacuated via helicopter to Soroka Medical Center. Two more victims were lightly hurt, and one was being treated for shock, according to MDA.

IDF Home Front command instructed residents living within 10 km of Gaza to remain indoors and take shelter.

Air raid sirens went off during the attacks and local residents fled for cover. Southern municipalities canceled schools amid the ongoing escalation. Police have heightened patrols around Gaza in the south, including bomb sappers to deal with the heightened threat.

The IAF struck three rocket-launching cells in the northern and southern Gaza Strip overnight. Hamas said that three of its operatives were killed in the strikes, and another three were injured.

On Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists detonated an explosive on the Gaza-Israel border, seriously injuring an IDF company commander.

The explosive was placed on a gate in the Kissufim region, near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.

Army paramedics provided first aid to the officer, before airlifting him, in very serious condition, to the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba. Doctors battled to stabilize him.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s response to the bomb attack would be “very hard,” while Defense Minister Ehud Barak characterized the attack as a “severe incident.”

The Kissufim region, which borders central Gaza, has become a daily combat zone between Hamas and its affiliated terror groups and the IDF.

Palestinian factions regularly plant bombs along the border, fire mortars at army positions, and terrorize Israeli farmers with rocket attacks.

Earlier this year, St.-Sgt. Natanel Moshiashvili was killed in a gunbattle with Palestinian terrorists who infiltrated Israel from Gaza.

Last week saw an escalation in hostilities on the Gaza front, with dozens of rockets falling on southern Israel and the IAF striking centers of terror activity in response.

Yaakov Lappin and Herb Keinon contributed to this report