Alerts sound in Rehovot, Ashkelon, Ashdod; no reports of casualties, though teen lightly hurt running to shelter; Palestinians say 1 killed, 4 wounded in Israeli strikes.
A police sapper is seen near a rocket that hit a main highway near Ashkelon (Israel Police)
Over 90 rockets were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip Saturday morning and Israel responded with strikes as a fragile ceasefire along the border again faltered.
Warning sirens were heard in Rehovot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Sderot and multiple communities in the Eshkol and Sha’ar Henegev Regional Councils. The Iron Dome missile defense system was activated in several instances.
In Eshkol one rocket fell inside a community but did not cause damage. Another rocket fell on Route 4, a major highway, near Ashkelon. Sappers were on the scene.
Magen David Adom said none were injured by the rockets. However a 15-year-old boy was lightly hurt running to a shelter, and two people suffered from shock.
No Gaza terror group immediately claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.
A picture taken from the Gaza Strip on May 4, 2019 shows rockets being launched toward Israel (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
In response to the attacks, the IDF said the air force struck at least two rocket launchers in the Strip, and tanks fired at several posts belonging to the Hamas terror group, which rules Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said a 22-year-old man was killed and four people were injured by Israeli strikes. It did not say whether the casualties were people affiliated to any terror group.
Hamas in a statement said it was “prepared to respond to Israel’s crimes” and vowed to stop it from “spilling the blood of our people.”
IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi was holding talks with Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman, Southern Command chief Herzi Halevi and other top brass. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also defense minister, was set to arrive at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv for consultations.
In light of the attacks many municipalities opened public shelters. Beaches, and national parks in the south were closed, and sporting events canceled.
An Israeli Merkava battle tank on the border with the Gaza Strip on March 15, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Earlier the IDF closed off roads and several sites near the Gaza border, anticipating a possible escalation of violence along the frontier. The popular Zikim beach, located about 2 kilometers (1.5 miles) north of the border, was also closed off.
The move came a day after two soldiers were shot and injured while on patrol near the border in southern Gaza. One soldier was moderately wounded in the attack and a female soldier was lightly hurt, the IDF said.
It was not clear who was behind the shooting.
In response to the shooting, an IDF aircraft attacked a nearby Hamas post, the army said. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said two people were killed in the strike and two others were wounded.
A picture taken from the Palestinian side of the border shows troops treating two wounded IDF soldiers after they were shot by a sniper on May 3, 2019. Screencapture/Channel 13)
Hamas, an Islamist terror group, confirmed the two men killed in the airstrike were members of its military wing and pledged to respond to what it called “Israeli aggression.”
The Hebrew-language Twitter account of the Hamas-affiliated Shehab news agency issued a threat to Israel Friday night: “We will respond to the crimes of the occupation and the killing of our people.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also said it held Israel responsible for the deaths.
The incidents, which marked a serious escalation, came during weekly border protests in which several thousand Gazans gathered at five sites. Some of the demonstrators rioted, throwing rocks and makeshift explosive devices at soldiers, who responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.
A third Palestinian was killed during the border riots, the Gaza health ministry said, identifying him as Ra’ed Khalil Abu Tayyer, 19, adding that 40 protesters had been injured. The IDF said troops had identified several attempts to breach the fence.
Overnight Friday, a fourth Palestinian died from injuries sustained during the riots, according to Hebrew media reports.
Earlier Friday, Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian man who crossed the northern Gaza border security fence, the army said, adding that the soldiers who searched him discovered a knife.
A balloon from Gaza carrying an incendiary device set off a brushfire near the town of Tekuma five kilometers east of the coastal enclave. Firefighters managed to put out the blaze shortly after it was detected.
Palestinianss clash with Israeli troops during protests at the Israel-Gaza border, on May 3, 2019 (Hassan Jedi/Flash90)
On Thursday, a Hamas delegation led by the group’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar traveled to Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on a truce with Israel, Hamas officials said.
That agreement has appeared to be under stress in recent days, with Palestinians launching arson balloons and rockets into Israel and Israeli warplanes striking Hamas targets.
Hamas has said the incendiary balloons were a message to Israel not to hold up the transfer of millions of dollars in Qatari aid funds to the cash-strapped Hamas government in Gaza.
Islamic Jihad, a Hamas-allied group backed by Iran, said its head would also attend the meetings.
Israel’s air force carried out air raids early Thursday morning on “a number of terror targets in a Hamas military compound in the northern Gaza Strip,” a military statement said. It said they were in response to the launching of incendiary and explosive balloons from Gaza into Israel.
Palestinian terrorists responded by launching two rockets into southern Israel. The projectiles fell in an open area, and no injuries were reported.
Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, seized control of Gaza from Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction in a violent 2007 coup.
Agencies contributed to this report.
04/05/2019 by TIMES OF ISRAEL
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