An Iron Dome system intercepts Hamas rocket in Ashdod. (IDF/File)
The Israeli military announced on Sunday deployment of additional Iron Dome batteries, including in Tel Aviv, after large-scale clashes with the Hamas terror group over the weekend.
By: World Israel News Staff
On Sunday, the IDF stated that in response to a spate of rocket attacks by the Hamas terror group in Gaza, it was deploying more Iron Dome batteries in the Tel Aviv area and in Israel’s south, in addition to calling up army reservists to operate the missile defense systems.
The IDF’s move arrived after Hamas launched close to 200 rockets into Israeli territory over the weekend, injuring civilians and damaging a synagogue in Sderot.
A spokesman for the Sderot municipality announced that two mortars had hit the town on saturday. One scored a direct hit on a house, injuring a 50-year-old man, 20-year-old woman, and a 14-year-old girl, who suffered facial wounds.
While Hamas reportedly agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday night, the army arranged for the additional Iron Dome batteries and reservists on Sunday as a precautionary measure.
The IDF threatened harsh reaction if further attacks were pursued by Hamas, which has also terrorized southern Israel with airborne arson attacks over the past three months.
With kite and balloon arson attacks sparking fires that have burned thousands of acres of land, Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday ordered the IDF to pursue all Palestinians attempting to launch incendiary kites and balloons into Israeli territory.
As of Sunday evening, Israeli aircraft had fired shots at three arson terror cells, according tho the IDF, with injuries reported at some of the strike sites.
Notwithstanding the IDF’s increased vigilance, Palestinians were still able to start several fires in Israel using airborne incendiary devices on Sunday.
Hamas’ attack over the weekend resulted in one of the largest exchanges of fire between the IDF and the terror group since the 2014 Gaza war.
On Sunday morning, Israelis in Gaza-border communities attempted to return to their routines, with farmers permitted by IDF’s Home Front Command to return to their fields and residents freed from the mandate to remain within feet of bomb shelters.
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