World Jewish News

Gaza rocket strikes school in Be'er Sheva.

A Grad rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza directly struck an empty schoolhouse in Be'er Sheva on Wednesday morning. Earlier, two rockets exploded in open fields near the Negev city. No injuries or damage was reported.
Hamas took responsibility for Wednesday's strike on Be'er Sheva.
Home Front Command authorities have instructed Be'er Sheva residents to remain in sheltered areas as Palestinians have succeeded in striking in the deepest point eastward into Israel.
After holding emergency consultations with the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, authorities in Be'er Sheva decided on Wednesday there would be no school in the city. The city's mayor, Rubik Danilovich, also ordered all classes at Ben-Gurion University shut down.
The army has also shut down school instruction on Wednesday in all towns lying within 30 kilometers of the Gaza Strip, though kindergartens in reinforced rooms will be in session.
Residents of towns abutting the Gaza Strip, including Sderot, are instructed to constantly remain indoors and in close proximity to bomb-proof rooms. Emergency authorities forbid public gatherings and formations of groups.
Two Katyusha rockets fired by militants in the Gaza Strip exploded Tuesday evening in Be'er Sheva region, 37 kilometers from the coastal territory. This was the furthest point eastward which a Palestinian projectile has managed to reach.
One of the rockets on the area struck a children's playground. Nobody was wounded in the attack, but 34 people were treated for shock.
More than 40 rockets at the western Negev on Tuesday, including one which reached the vicinity of the Bedouin town of Rahat and Ofakim, both west of Be'er Sheva.
Hamas took responsibility for the Katyushas aimed at Be'er Sheva, and its military wing said last night that it plans to fire at Israeli targets that are even further away as long as the IDF operation continues.
Rockets exploded continuously throughout the day, with a number striking the northern Negev cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod. One person was lightly wounded when two rockets exploded in Ashkelon in the late evening.
A rocket fired in the afternoon scored a direct hit on a kibbutz dining hall in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no injuries in the incident, but the building sustained severe damage.
Channel Two television reported earlier Tuesday that rockets exploded in the western Negev towns of Kiryat Malachi and Kiryat Gat.
A Qassam rocket struck a home in the western Negev town of Sderot on Tuesday. One person sustained minor shrapnel wounds, and three others suffered shock.
No occupants were at home when the projectile slammed into the house. Another Qassam rocket hit the backyard of a Sderot home, while five others exploded in open areas near Sderot.
Other rockets caused some damage to hothouses in the Eshkol region.
The attacks came after Palestinian rockets had killed three Israelis on Monday, and wounded nine more, one of them critically.
Home Front Command chief praises civilian response
The head of the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, Yair Golan, convened a press conference in the western Negev town of Ofakim on Tuesday.
Golan praised the resiliency of western Negev residents who have absorbed rocket barrages and the alertness displayed by municipal workers in responding to the citizens' distress.
Golan also warned civilians to take greater heed of Home Front Command directives instructing those within range of Palestinian rocket fire to enter bomb-proof shelters immediately upon hearing the warning sirens.
"These directives save lives," Golan told reporters. "The civilians who were killed in Netivot and Ashkelon - if they had followed the directives, perhaps they would have saved their lives. I call on all civilians in the south not to enter a state of complacency and to understand that the directives are a question of life and death."
Husband of rocket victim expresses shock at loss
The husband of one of three Israelis killed Monday in rocket attacks from Gaza said Tuesday that although strikes had been expected in Ashdod, more than 30 kilometers from Gaza, the family never thought that it would affect them in such a tragic manner.
Irit Sheetrit, 39, was killed after she got out of her vehicle when she heard the early warning siren, and sought shelter in a bus stop on the side of the road. She sustained critical shrapnel wounds, and later died of her injuries. Another passerby who also ducked into the bus stop for shelter is in serious condition.
"We are stunned, it came as a bolt from the blue," Herzl Sheetrit told Army Radio. "All the family is together and we can't digest what has happened. We are comforting one another."
"There was a sudden blast and I heard screams," Sheetrit said. "When I arrived at the site of the rocket strike, the ambulances had already evacuated her."
Irit was laid to rest Tuesday at the cemetery in Ashdod. On Tuesday afternoon, the funeral also took place for Sergeant Major Lutafi Nasraladin, 38, from Daliat al-Karmel, who was killed Monday evening by mortar fire on a military base in the Negev.
The third victim of Monday Gaza attacks was named as Hani al Mahdi, a 27-year-old construction worker from the Bedouin village of Aroer, who was killed while working at a building site in Ashkelon. He was fatally wounded by shrapnel from a Grad rocket when he was caught in the open en route to a protected area.
At least 80 rockets have were fired into Israel on Monday. Several of the rockets hit Ashkelon, while others struck Sderot and other rocket weary communities in the western Negev.
Three rockets hit the city of Yavneh Monday evening, the northernmost point a Palestinian rocket has hit to date.

Источник: Haaretz