Palestinian terrorist groups fire at least 300 rockets on Israel
Palestinian terror groups have fired more than 300 rockets on civilians in Israel as the barrage continued for a second day.
After a brief overnight lull, rockets attacks continued beginning early on Wednesday morning. As of 1 p.m., more than 300 rockets had been fired at southern and central Israel since the targeted killing by the Israel Defense Forces of Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior commander Baha Abu al-Ata on Tuesday morning.
The Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted some 90 percent of the rockets, according to the IDF. Most of Wednesday’s rockets fell in communities near the Gaza border, though at least one round of rockets targeted Latrun, located 15 miles west of Jerusalem.
On Wednesday morning, Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying that they were in response to the assassination of Abu al-Ata and also for the attempt to kill senior Islamic Jihad leader Akram Al-Ajouri in Damascus, for which Israel is being blamed by the terror group.
Islamic Jihad said it was not ready to discuss a cease-fire with Israel. A spokesman for the group said that it will “continue conveying our message to Israel and once we finish, it will be the time to speak about calming things down.”
The IDF has struck back at Islamic Jihad targets Wednesday, including rocket launchers and a rocket manufacturing factory. At least 23 Gazan Palestinians, have been killed in the rocket strikes, according to reports citing Gaza’s Health Ministry. More than half of the dead have been claimed as members of Islamic Jihad and other terror groups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday reiterated to citizens that “this could take time,” and warned them to follow the instructions of the IDF Home Front Command.
“I said yesterday that we are not bent on escalation, but that we would respond to every attack against us, and respond very sharply. Islamic Jihad would do well to understand this right now, instead of when it will be too late,” he said. “We are determined to fight to defend our country and if they think that these barrages or these strikes will weaken us or lessen our determination, they are mistaken.”
Source: JTA
