Rockets fired at Jerusalem on day 3 of Operation Breaking Dawn

Sunday morning’s siren came slightly more than a year after a rocket launched towards Jerusalem kicked off the May 2021 Israel-Gaza clash.

By World Israel News Staff

Sirens sounded in communities on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Sunday morning, marking the first time that rockets launched by the Islamic Jihad terror group in the Gaza Strip had been fired towards Israel’s capital since the launch of Operation Breaking Dawn.

Sunday morning’s siren came slightly more than a year after a rocket launched towards Jerusalem kicked off the May 2021 Israel-Gaza clash.

Although Hebrew-language news outlets did not reveal in exactly which areas of Jerusalem the sirens were heard, fans of the Israeli version of the reality TV show Big Brother noted that an air raid siren could be heard during a live broadcast of the program.

The show, which allows viewers at home to watch contestants inside of a house in real time, is filmed in Neve Ilan, a moshav some 10 miles away from Jerusalem’s city center.

Barrages from the Strip fired towards Israeli communities continued on Sunday morning, after a brief lull overnight Saturday which saw some three hours pass without a rocket launch.

Although the majority of rockets have targeted Gaza-adjacent communities in Israel’s south, a number of rockets have been fired towards the Gush Dan district in central Israel. On Saturday, rocket alarms sounded in southern Tel Aviv and its suburbs, including the neighboring cities of Bat Yam, Holon, and Rishon LeTzion.

Unlike during last year’s Guardian of the Walls clash, no rockets have struck or damaged targets in central Israel as of Sunday afternoon.

Rockets did strike homes in the southern city of Sderot, as well as a factory, but no serious injuries were reported. A rocket also landed in Ashkelon, damaging two cars, but there were no injuries.

In May 2021, buildings in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Ramat Gan, Petah Tikvah, and Givatayim were hit by Gaza-launched rockets. A wheelchair-bound Israeli man in Ramat Gan was killed after a rocket struck his apartment building in Ramat Gan and he was unable to reach a bomb shelter in time.

His death marked the first Israeli killed in the Gush Dan region by a rocket attack since the 1991 Gulf war, which saw Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein target Israel with Scud missiles.