A Kassam rocket exploded near a kindergarten in Kibbutz Zikim in southern Israel at 8:00 am on Tuesday morning (Dec. 21) just as dozens of parents were bringing their children to school. A 14-year-old girl who was preparing to leave for school was wounded by shrapnel and glass fragments. She was evacuated to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment. Several people suffered from shock, including a young boy and a gas-truck driver. Some of the children were already in the kindergarten when the rocket exploded nearby.

Since the beginning of the week (Dec. 19), as many as 14 projectiles have been fired from the Gaza Strip landing in southern Israel territory including Kibbutz Zikim, near the Karni Crossing (through which gas, fuel and cement enter the Gaza Strip), the Eshkol Regional Council and the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council.

On Monday night (Dec. 20), in response to this rocket fire, the  Israel Air Force and Israel Security Agency carried out a joint operation targeting seven terror-related sites in the Gaza Strip. These included three Hamas-operated tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip and an additional Hamas-operated tunnel, a smuggling tunnel, a weapon-manufacturing facility and a terror activity center in the southern Gaza Strip.