Grad rocket blasts injure three Palestinians in Ashdod
Hamas says it's ending truce in place since Cast Lead; MDA treating 3 Palestinians for serious injuries; 1 injured by rocket near Beersheba.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN, REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFFSmoke trails from rockets being fired in Gaza 311 (R)(photo credit: Yannis Behrakis / Reuters)Three Palestinian workers working in Israel were injured Saturday morning when an unidentified number of Grad rockets exploded in southern Ashdod, Magen David Adom paramedics reported. A number of hours prior, Hamas's armed wing had announced an end to a two-year old truce with Israel.Emergency sirens could be heard throughout the city before the blasts. A paramedics team that was dispatched to the site of the blast in Ashdod said it was treating three men in their 20s for injuries including shrapnel to the neck, chest, and other parts of the body. Two were in serious condition. Later Saturday morning, a Grad rocket exploded in an open field north of Beersheba in the Bnei Shimon Regional Council. One person was lightly injured and another suffered from shock.Israel Radio reported at least 35 rockets landing in Israel since Thursday afternoon.Also Saturday morning, an explosion was heard in the northern Lacish area. A spokeswoman for the Yoav Michal Regional Council reported that an air raid siren was heard in her area a few minutes ago. No injuries or damages are known.
Late Friday night, a Kassam rocket exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council in an open field, causing no injuries or damage.Hamas announced early on Saturday they were no longer committed to a more than two-year de facto truce with Israel since the end of a war in early 2009.The statement was broadcast over a Hamas radio station in Gaza after Israel pounded the Strip for two days with air strikes in response to rocket fire and terror attacks on Thursday that killed eight people.RELATED:Counter-terror officer killed by terrorist fire near EilatTimeline of the attacks on the Sinai border"There is no longer any truce with the enemy," the statement said in a move seen as paving the way for Hamas to escalate the violence with Israel.The IAF launched a number of air strikes at the Gaza Strip Friday night in response to Thursday's terror attack the continuing rocket fire, killing at least one Palestinian Resistance Committee (PRC) leader and hitting tunnels used to infiltrate Israel as well as weapons caches.Earlier in the evening, an Iron Dome anti-missile battery successfully intercepted a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip toward Ashkelon.Three rockets exploded in the Eshkol Regional council Friday night over a period of several hours. No injuries or damages were reported.In the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, an explosion occurred near a local kibbutz Friday evening. Local officials said a Kassam rocket landed in an open area. No injuries or damages were reported.An hour earlier, two rockets fired from Gaza fell in northern Lachish not far from Kiryat Malachi. No injuries were reported although the explosion sparked a fire, which spread to an empty building. The building was lightly damaged before firefighters put out the fire.Police have asked members of the public in the affected areas to follow instructions from the home front command.One person was seriously injured and another moderately injured after a Grad rocket fired from Gaza landed in the courtyard of a yeshiva in Ashdod on Friday morning.Four other people were treated for shock following the attack. All were taken to Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot. An additional Grad that failed to explode subsequently fell in the area and was neutralized by the bomb squad.Light damage was caused to the building as a result of the rocket fire. The rocket attack came less than a day after a three-stage terror attack near Eilat killed eight people.Earlier on Friday, at least 10 rockets were fired at various targets in the South including Ashkelon and Beersheba.All of the rockets landed in open territory and no injuries or damage were reported.
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