10 injured, 2 killed, as heavy rocket barrage hits Israel’s south

Terrorists scored a direct hit on a caravan, wounding 10, and killing two. 

By World Israel News Staff

The security situation in the south of Israel heated up in the afternoon as a heavy rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip hit Ashkelon, Ashdod, and the area of the Eskhol Regional Council, which borders the southeast part of the Strip.

Ten were reported injured, with two deaths from a direct hit in Eshkol around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Two more victims were listed in serious condition after a rocket hit a residential building in a packing section of a factory in an agricultural area where foreign workers were employed. The two dead were workers from Thailand.

It’s not known if there was a safe room in the building, which has been described as a caravan in early reports.

People in areas near the Strip have mere seconds to reach a safe area once sirens sound. Normally, that number is 15 seconds. In the area where the mortar hit it is said to be 10 seconds.

A soldier 19, was lightly injured at noon on Tuesday by shrapnel near the Erez Checkpoint into the Gaza Strip during a moment when humanitarian aid was being allowed into the Gaza Strip. He was transferred to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.

At 1:00 p.m., Israeli authorities ordered all residents up to four kilometers from the border to enter protected areas, and as part of the barrage, a rocket launched from Gaza hit buildings in the Eshkol Regional Council and a barn.

At 12:30 p.m., the IDF reported it had attacked 12 senior Hamas commanders’ houses in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.

Despite international voices calling for a ceasefire, Kan News reports there’s no talk of ceasefire from either side in the conflict.