A man was killed Saturday afternoon in a rocket strike on the city of Ramat Gan as dozens of rockets were fired at the center of the country, targeting the greater Tel Aviv area and Ben-Gurion Airport.
Sirens sounded across the region, including in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Rishon Lezion, Yavne, Ramat Gan, Bat Yam, Holon, Petah Tikva and Ramat HaSharon as well as in the West Bank settlement of Eli, north of Jerusalem.
Rocket strike on Ramat Gan
(Video: Ben Shpayer)
Loud explosions were heard central Israel and the Sharon region, and even as far as Beit Shemesh. Gaza terror groups have also kept up continuous rocket strikes on the south as well.
The Iron Dome missile defense system was deployed across the center to knock the projectiles out of the sky, but rockets hit in Ramat Gan, close to the Ikea branch in Rishon Lezion industrial zone and near to the airport.
In Ramat Gan, Magen David Adom paramedic Lior Marmelstein said: "We went from door to door in large numbers and in one apartment we located an unconscious man in his 50s. After trying to revive him, he was pronounced dead."
The rocket strike on Ramat Gan caused a fire to break out and heavy damage to property. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation.
A rocket also hit the central Arab city of Taibeh, causing damage to property.
Another rocket struck Givat Shmuel, close to Ramat Gan, causing damage to buildings and setting a car on fire.
Three rockets struck open areas, causing bushfires, the fire service said.
Shrapnel from rockets fell across the center, including in Holon, Yavne, Beit Dagan, Givat Shmuel and Kfar Chabad.
Two people were treated at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv after they were injured while falling as they ran to the bomb shelter and another was treated for shock.
The first barrage on the center began shortly before 2pm and was followed by another some 10 minutes later. Sirens then sounded in the northern West Bank settlements of Alfei Menashe and Karnei Shomron.
Hamas said the attacks directed at the settlements were in solidarity with Palestinians clashing with Israeli security forces in the West Bank.
The Hamas military wing said it fired dozens of rockets at Tel Aviv in response to "the massacre of women and children at the Shati refugee camp." At least 10 Palestinians were killed in an IDF airstrike on the camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday morning.
The attack came after a morning in which it seemed the rate of rocket fire from Strip was dropping, although the Gaza border communities and much of southern Israel came under repeated attack throughout the day.
A 16-story building sustained damage in Be'er Sheva on Saturday morning when a barrage of rockets from Gaza hit the city.
No one was injured in the attack and the IDF said the building may have been impacted by shrapnel caused when the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted rockets in the sky over the southern city.
Resident of an apartment that was destroyed, were saved by remaining in their shelter where they were asleep but woke to a loud explosion.
The heavy rocket fire from Gaza directed at southern Israel , was relentless on the sixth day of fighting, while the IDF pounded the Strip from land and air.
Six children and two women were reported killed in the al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Hamas terror group said they had launched rocket in retaliation.
Three direct hits were reported in Ashdod overnight. One rocket hit an apartment, one the city's marina and another landed on a road. No injuries were reported.
On Friday rockets were fired from Syria and the north of the country, On e fell short of the border and landed inside Syrian territory and the remaining two hit open fields and caused no damage or injury.
This was the second time Israel's north was targeted by rockets. On Thursday, rockets targeted by Western Galilee but landed in the sea.
Also on Friday, Lebanese demonstrators set fire to the Israeli border fence near the country's northernmost town of Metula , and some of them cut the fence and broke into the Israeli side, prompting IDF tanks stationed in the area to fire several warning shots, to chase the protesters back into to Lebanese territory.
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IDF forces shoot flares across the Israel Lebanon border on Friday night
( Photo: AFP)
The Hezbollah-affiliated television network Al-Manar reported that one protester was hurt but did not specify what caused their injuries or their condition.
First published: 08:56, 05.15.21