Israel under fire-November 2012

Israel under fire-November 2012

  • 11/22/2012
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    A total of 1,500 rockets were fired at Israel since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense (14 Nov), more than half of which were recorded as hits in Israeli territory. A ceasefire was declared on November 21, at 9 pm.
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    Following the launch of Israel's operation Pillar of Defense against terrorist targets in Gaza, rocket fire from Gaza  resumed on Wednesday evening (14 Nov), with a salvo of over 50 Grad rockets fired towards Israel's southern cities.
    A     ceasefire was declared on November 21, at 9 pm. Since 2300 hours on November 21, no rockets or mortar shells have been fired into Israeli territory.

     
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    A total of 1,500 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense (14 Nov), more than half of which were recorded as hits in Israeli territory. The Iron Dome anti-missile defense system has intercepted over 400 rockets, preventing them from striking populated areas in Israel.


    Kiryat Malachi, Nov 15, 2012 (Photo: GPO/Moshe Milner)

    Israeli casualties: 6 killed (4 civilians and 2 soldiers), 8 in critical condition, 9 in moderate condition and 222 lightly injured (figures of wounded include 20 soldiers).

    Nov 21: IDF reserve officer Lt. Boris Yarmulnik, 28, of Netanya was mortally wounded by rocket fire on Wednesday, Nov 21, and died of his wounds the following day.

    Nov 20: IDF soldier, Cpl. Yosef Fartuk, 18, of Emmanuel was killed in a rocket and mortar salvo in the Eshkol Regional Council. Alayaan Salem al-Nabari, 33, from the Beduin village of Rejwan in the Negev, was killed by a second mortar salvo in the same region.

    Nov 15: Three people were killed when a rocket hit an apartment building in Kiryat Malachi: Mirah Scharf, 25, Aharon Smadja, 49, and Itzik Amsalem, 24. 

     


    Daily distribution of rocket hits in Israel's south 
    since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense


    Source: ITIC

    • The Kerem Shalom crossing opened on Tuesday morning (20 Nov) to allow the transfer of 120 trucks of humanitarian aid. However, when it was targeted by rocket fire from Gaza, the IDF was forced to close the crossing to ensure the safety of all those working at the crossing and passing through it. Only 24 trucks of humanitarian aid managed to make it through the crossings prior to the rocket strikes.
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    Rocket hits in Israel since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, 2006

     


    Source: ITIC 
    * The number of launchings, in our assessment, is about 
    three times greater than the number of hits.


    Rocket range from Gaza. 
    (PDF) 

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    Israelis run for cover as a siren warns of incoming rockets in Kiryat Malachi, where three were killed (Photo: Reuters)
     

    Remains of a car hit by a rocket in Beersheba (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)
     

    Israelis prepare to sleep in a bomb shelter in the southern town of Netivot (Photo: Reuters)
     
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    The current crisis began on Saturday (10 November) when an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza struck an IDF jeep near the Karni crossing wounding four soldiers, two seriously. An IDF force patrolling near the Karni crossing, inside Israel, sustained a direct hit by an anti-tank missile fired from a location east of the Gaza Strip neighborhoods of Zeitun and Sajaiya. Two soldiers suffered serious injuries and were airlifted to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Two others were rushed to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon in moderate condition, suffering from shrapnel wounds. The IDF responded to the source of fire.
    The IDF soldier who sustained critical head and eye injuries during Saturday's anti-tank missile attack on an IDF patrol jeep near the Gaza border remains hospitalized at the intensive care unit of the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, and his doctors say he may never see again.
    The Home Front Command directed residents of communities near the Gaza Strip to remain within 15 seconds from protected areas and not to remain in open areas. Shortly after 9 pm the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system intercepted a rocket over the Israeli city of Ashdod. Another rocket fell in an open area near Ashdod.
    PM Netanyahu (Nov 11): "The IDF is operating, and will operate, aggressively against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, which are taking heavy blows from the IDF. The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to attack us. We are prepared to intensify the response."
    Over 120 rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza from Saturday evening (Nov 10) until November 13, hitting Sderot, Ashdod, Netivot, and the Eshkol, Shaar Hanegev and Hof Ashkelon councils. Several people suffered injuries on Sunday morning and many have been treated for panic. There has been extensive damage to homes, businesses and vehicles.
     
    Rocket fire – Daily Distribution
     

    A total of 121 rocket hits identified in Israeli territory during the current escalation. The number does not include mortar shells. Source: ITIC
     


    House in Netivot damaged by a direct rocket hit (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)
     


    Trails of smoke are seen after the launch of rockets from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel - November 11, 2012 (Photo: Reuters)
     
    Defense Minister Barak: The firing has been relentless today. As far as Israel is concerned, Hamas is responsible for the rocket-fire and all other attempts to harm our soldiers and civilians [from Gaza], even when other groups participate. And it is Hamas that will pay the heavy price; a price that will be painful.
    In recent weeks, a number of incidents have occurred in the southern Gaza Strip, including an attack using explosives against an IDF armored personnel carrier, wounding a company commander, and another attack with explosives. On Thursday, November 8, an IDF engineering force located a number of powerful explosive devices to the west of the fence. After the IDF disarmed charges found on the Gaza side of the border, and were repairing the border fence, explosives in an underground tunnel were detonated, causing a large explosion that exposed a tunnel roughly four meters deep and four meters wide, damaging a jeep and lightly injuring a soldier.​