Iron Dome intercepts at least 9 rockets in barrage at southern, central Israel
Iron Dome intercepts 2 rockets over Tel Aviv; earlier 16-year-old was seriously wounded, 50-year-old man lightly hurt in Ashkelon.
Hamas has managed to fire rockets from the Gaza Strip further than it did so far on Sunday afternoon, when it fired a rocket that hit near Haifa - some 150km from the Gaza Strip. Earlier, a 16-year-old boy sustained serious injuries and a 50-year-old man was lightly injured by a rocket blast in Ashkelon.
At around 00:30, Code Red sirens sounded in Nahariya, Shlomi and other communities in the Western Galilee, after three rockets were launched towards Israeli territory, apparently from Lebanon. No injuries or damage was reported.
Shortly after midnight, the Iron Dome intercepted at least two rockets over Ashkelon.
At 11:23pm, a rocket exploded in Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.
At 8:03pm, the rocket alert siren was sounded in a lot of places in southern and central Israel, among them: Ashkelon, Mesilat Zion, Nachshon Hartuv, Beit El, Nili, Psagot, Abu Ghosh, Neve Ilan, Kfar Tapuach, Ofra, Eli, Migdalim, Hashmonaim, Kfar Daniel, Modi'in, Modi'in Illit, Ariel, Barkan, Nitzan, Zikim, Yad Mordechai, Netiv HaAsara, Kiryat Malachi, Yavne, Ashdod.
The Iron Dome intercepted at least nine rockets in this barrage. Four rockets were intercepted over Kiryat Malachi, two were intercepted over Sderot, and three were intercepted over Ashdod. Four rockets fired at Ashdod fell in open areas. Two rockets exploded in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council, another exploded in an orchid. Hamas claimed it fired 13 rockets at Ashdod, and five rockets at an IAF base in the south.
A rocket hit a high voltage power line in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing disruption in electricity supply to 70,000 Palestinians in Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah.
The Israel Electric Company decided for the time being not to fix the power line, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom have instructed the company not to put the lives of IEC workers at risk. The power line will be fixed when the security situation allows it, the company said.
Several minutes before 8pm, several loud explosions were heard in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Security forces were checking whether these were rockets that fell in open areas.
Around 6:18pm, three rockets exploded in Eshkol, causing damage to a chicken coop. Another rocket exploded in Eshkol earlier, at around 6pm. The Iron Dome intercepted a rocket over Ashdod at around 6:15pm.
At around 5:50pm, a rocket exploded in an open area in Sha'ar HaNegev. At around 5:13pm, two rockets hit the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council.
Shortly after 4:30pm, rocket alert sirens were sounded all across the greater Tel Aviv area, in the Sharon plains and in the Western Galilee. Iron Dome intercepted two rockets that were fired at the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. One rocket fell area near Haifa. So far, no injuries or damages were reported. A false alarm was sounded in Nahariya.
Hamas, that claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, said it launched a Fajr-5 rocket at Rishon LeZion, three M-75 rockets at Tel Aviv and one R-160 rocket.
The rocket alert siren was sounded in the following places, among others: Nahariya, Tel Aviv, Azor, Holon, Bat Yam, Palmachim, Rishon LeZion, Avihayil, Beit Yitzhak, Bitan Aharon, Givat Shapira, Havatzelet HaSharon, Netanya, Hadera, Elyakhin, Emek Hefer, Bat Hefer, Yad Hana, Kfar Yona, Givat Haim, Zemer, Lehavot Haviva, Magal, Netzer, Gan Shmuel, Sha'ar Menashe, Even Yehuda, Udim, Beit Yehoshua, Bnei Zion, Batzra, Ga'ash, Hof Hasharon Regional Council, Qalansawe, Sha'ar Ephraim, Shefayim, Herzliya, Kfar Shmaryahu, Ramat Hasharon, Bnei Brak, Givat Shmuel, Givatayim, Ramat Gan, Ra'anana, Kfar Saba and Petah Tikva.
Two rockets fell in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, one inside one of the communities and another in a greenhouse. Light damages were reported, but no one was hurt.
A 41-year-old woman was lightly wounded in Hadera when she fell while running to take shelter. A 24-year-old woman in Natanya was also hurt in the same manner. Five people in Natanya were also being treated for shock.
Two rockets fell near Ashkelon at around 4pm, causing fires. No one was hurt.
At 2:25pm, a rocket hit an inhabited area in Ashkelon. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.
On Sunday morning, Code Red sirens wailed across southern Israel, as residents in Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Be'er Sheva rushed to shelters. Two rockets exploded in open areas near Be'er Sheva. The Iron Dome missile battery intercepted one rocket over Ashkelon.
Some one million Israelis woke up to the sound of alarms after 6 am, as Code Red sirens blared in cities across central and southern Israel: Rehovot, Rishon LeZion, Modi'in, Ashdod, Lod, Ashkelon, Ramle, Ben Gurion Airport, and other smaller communities.
The shockwaves from the explosions were heard as far as the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Four rockets were intercepted during the salvo – three over Lod and one in the skies of Ashdod. The IDF reported that the Israeli Air Force attacked the launchers used for the early morning rocket fire.
The air raid sirens wailed overnight Saturday in the Eshkol, Sha'ar HaNegev, and Sdot HaNegev Regional Councils from midnight until 5 am – a total of 10 rockets landed in open spaces in the Gaza border region. Two of the rockets exploded inside Eshkol, causing light damage to a house and a public structure. No one was injured in the rocket salvo.
According to figures released Saturday night, since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, 605 rockets fell inside Israel (84 on Saturday) and 143 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system (at least 6 on Saturday).
