Man killed in front yard first Israeli victim since Operation Protective Edge

An Israeli man was killed on Saturday night by terrorist rocket fire after going outside for a smoke.

By World Israel News Staff

Terrorist rocket fire from the Gaza Strip claimed its first victim on Saturday night, killing an Israeli man who was staying at the home of his mother-in-law in the city of Ashkelon, Israel’s Ynet news site reports.

Moshe Agadi, 58, is the first Israeli citizen to die from direct rocket fire since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Ynet reports.

“Moshe went out to smoke a cigarette following a barrage and did not have time to enter the protected area [when the rocket fire resumed]. They tried to carry out initial CPR but on the way to the hospital they lost him,” his brother Shmulik said.

Mr. Agadi will be buried at 4:00 p.m. Israel time on Sunday. He leaves behind a wife, three sons and a daughter.

Mr. Agadi came from a large family of 14 children, which included six brothers and eight sisters.

His brother, Shai, described Moshe as a modest man who treated everyone with respect. He “loved everyone and was loved by people. He was a happy person who always smiled. This is a very difficult loss.”

“We don’t know how to go on from here, we feel helpless,” Shai told Army Radio. “If Moshe was here, he would give everyone hope… It’s impossible to describe it in words. We still haven’t digested it.”

The neighbor of the house that was struck said Moshe was “a really charming man, and every morning I met him when I took to the street, ‘Good morning, How are you?’ A model man, really. ”

As of Sunday morning, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired 450 rockets into Israel.