Rockets from Gaza hit Beersheba, Sderot, Sha'ar Hanegev

4 projectiles fired in total in latest attack; Iron Dome system intercepts Grad over Beersheba, air raid sirens heard; Kassam falls in Ashkelon earlier, breaking lull in attacks; none hurt, no damage reported.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Police officiers remove the remains of a Grad rocket 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
Police officiers remove the remains of a Grad rocket 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
Three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel on Monday evening with two landing in Beersheba, one in Sderot and one in Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.
At the same time, the Iron Dome anti-rocket shield intercepted a long-range Grad rocket over Beersheba which was fired from Gaza.
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Air raid sirens were heard across the Negev city prior to the interception.
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip also exploded in an open area south of Ashkelon Monday afternoon, the first since shortly after midnight Sunday night.
No injuries or damage were reported in any of the attacks.
The IDF said overnight Sunday that its aircraft struck a rocket launching cell in Gaza after it fired a projectile into Israel.
"We identified an accurate strike," an IDF spokesman told The Jerusalem Post.
The IDF action came after three Kassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel landed in the Eshkol Regional Council area on Sunday close to midnight.
No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks.
The IDF approved a series of operations aimed at widening the scope of its responses to ongoing Islamic Jihad rocket attacks from Gaza on Sunday, as Egypt tried to mediate a second cease-fire after the first attempt at a truce lasted only several hours.
The planning for an intensified Israeli response, which was overseen by Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, took place in the command and control room of the IDF’s Southern Command in Beersheba, and in Tel Aviv.
As senior defense chiefs spent Sunday preparing for a further escalation, they treated reports of a new cease-fire with skepticism, after Gazans shattered a brief calm by attempting to fire a rocket into Israel around 3 p.m.
The terrorist cell that prepared the rocket for launch was struck successfully by an air force aircraft, thwarting the attack. The cell reportedly belonged to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. One terrorist was killed and another was seriously wounded.