(Communicated by the IDF Spokesperson)
On Friday morning (July 30), a Grad rocket landed in the city of Ashkelon. No casualties were reported but several persons who were present at the scene were treated for shock. Damage was caused to buildings and vehicles in the area. Security forces are searching the area.
A Kassam rocket fired from northern Gaza Saturday night (31 July) hit the roof of a building in an educational institution in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council, outside Sderot.
Two Kassam rockets were fired last week and landed close to communities in the south of Israel. One of the rockets exploded west of Ashkelon, and the other in an open area south of the city. No damage or casualties were caused in either event.
General background information: Ashkelon is a city with a population of approximately 125,000 residents. It is approximately 10 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip and has suffered from many cases of rocket fire in which residents were harmed and damage was caused.
* * *
PM Netanyahu's remarks at the start of the Cabinet meeting (1 Aug 2010):
"Over the weekend, a Grad rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip, which is under the control of Hamas, at the heart of Ashkelon. Miraculously, no disaster occurred. Following this attack on a residential neighborhood, against our civilians and children, the IDF attacked military targets and terrorist nests in Gaza. Afterwards, a Kassam rocket was fired from Gaza at Sapir College and the IDF responded last night. I view Hamas as being directly responsible for any attack on the State of Israel that originates in the Gaza Strip, and this is how the international community must see things. Israel reserves the right to defend its citizens and we will continue to take all necessary measures in order to defend the State of Israel, Israeli citizens and Israeli children."
The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) condemned the attack on Ashkelon (30 July), in which a rocket struck a residential area. Indiscriminate rocket fire against civilians is completely unacceptable and constitutes a terrorist attack.
In response to the Grad rocket fired at Ashkelon on Friday (July 30), the IAF targeted a Hamas-linked terror activity site in the northern Gaza Strip, a weapons-manufacturing warehouse in the central Gaza Strip and a weapons-smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
In response to second incident of rocket fire this weekend (July 31), the Israel Air Force struck a Hamas-linked terror tunnel and a weapons-smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.