Rocket fire strikes North again, Gaza belt under continued mortar barrage

Shrapnel hits Ashdod mall, Gush Dan region also targeted; IAF takes out Salafi cell in Strip.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, BEN HARTMAN
IDF troops stationed near Kiryat Shmona in the north. (photo credit: REUTERS)
IDF troops stationed near Kiryat Shmona in the north.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The IDF struck more than 70 targets across Gaza on Monday, including two operatives who had fired projectiles at Israel, as well as the launcher.
The air force also hit a rocket launcher located near a school in northern Gaza.
By the evening on Monday, 115 rockets and mortars had been fired into Israel, not counting a salvo on Ashdod around 9 p.m., according to figures from the IDF Spokesman’s Office. A mall in the city was hit by shrapnel from a rocket the Iron Dome intercepted. The shrapnel lodged in the mall’s glass ceiling. No injuries were reported.
Like in recent days, mortar shells made up the majority of the projectiles fired, and the areas most frequently hit were in the South, near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Of the rockets fired into Israel, 14 were shot down by the Iron Dome air-defense system and four landed in built-up areas, the IDF said.
Rocket sirens sounded in towns and villages in the Upper Galilee on Monday night. Around 10:15 residents reported hearing a rocket siren followed by an explosion. The IDF responded with artillery fire at the source of the rocket fire. An army source said it was not yet clear which organization was behind the attack.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office said it managed to confirm that one rocket had been fired from Lebanon into the Upper Galilee, which exploded in an open area. It could not rule out that additional rockets had been fired from Lebanon.
The army did not know of any damages or injuries caused, and none had been reported by 11 p.m.
There was also a rocket-warning siren in the morning in Tel Aviv, even though no rocket had been fired at Gush Dan, according to the army. Later in the evening, however, loud explosions could be heard in the Tel Aviv area, as the city and other parts of the central region of the country came under fire again.
In a joint Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and IDF operation, the air force struck a vehicle carrying operatives from the Jaish al-Islam terrorist group who were plotting an attack in the near future, security forces said. Jaish al-Islam works with the close support and financial assistance of Hamas, according to Israeli intelligence assessments.
The IAF struck two terrorists who fired on communities near the Gaza border. Earlier, the IDF struck a terrorist operative in northern Gaza who fired on Israel.
Before that, the air force launched an air strike against two terrorists who fired on Israeli villages near Gaza. The IDF also struck a launcher that was used to fire projectiles into Israeli communities bordering Gaza. The launcher was located at a school in Shejaia, according to the IDF.
On Monday morning, the IDF bombed Hamas military barracks, apartments used to run Hamas operations, and rocket-launch pits.
The air force also targeted a rocket launcher used to fire on the abandoned kibbutz of Nahal Oz. The launcher, stationed by Hamas in Shejaia, was hit in the IAF’s counter-strike.
Overnight, the air force struck two mosques, one used for weapons storage and the second as a meeting point for terrorists active in northern Gaza.