Anti-tank missile, 3 mortars fired from Gaza Strip

Mortar damages power lines in Eshkol region, cuts power to local communities; over 120 projectiles fired into Israel over weekend.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV KATZ
Damaged house from mortar attack 311 (photo credit: Reuters)
Damaged house from mortar attack 311
(photo credit: Reuters)
Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF tank on the southern Gaza border Sunday morning, following over 120 rockets and mortar shells fired into Israel over the weekend. No injuries were reported in the latest attack.
Earlier in the morning, three mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip and exploded in fields belonging to a Eshkol Regional Council kibbutz. No injuries were reported but electrical cables were damaged, causing a power outage that affected communities in the area.
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Over 120 rockets and mortar shells slammed into Israel over the weekend as the IDF hammered the Gaza Strip and threatened to open a large ground offensive to stop the rocket attacks.
Five Israelis were reportedly wounded when scrambling to enter bomb shelters as rockets were being fired.
Throughout Saturday, a number of messages were relayed to Israel by various mediators with an offer of a cease-fire from Hamas’s political echelon in the Gaza Strip.
Defense officials said Hamas appeared to be split and that while its Izzadin Kassam military wing, led by Ahmed Jabari, was continuing to attack Israel, this was being done against the position of the political echelon led by Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
The round of violence began on Thursday when Gazans fired an anti-tank missile at a school bus, critically wounding a 16- year-old boy and lightly injuring the driver. Hamas rocket and mortar attacks continued throughout Friday and Saturday in Beersheba, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ofakim, Sderot and other Gaza-belt communities.
Defense officials said more than 20 Hamas operatives were killed over the weekend and that dozens of others were wounded by a series of air strikes against Hamas positions, bases and launch sites.
The IAF carried out at least 46 strikes in Gaza.
“They have been hit hard and we will continue to strike at them as long as the rocket and terrorist attacks continue,” a senior defense official said on Saturday night.