Two people were lightly wounded and a synagogue damaged in a fresh barrage of Kassam rocket-fire on Sderot and Ashkelon Wednesday night.
Another rocket knocked down a high-tension wire at a nearby kibbutz and one landed near a gas station belonging to Kibbutz Nir Am. A total of seven rockets were fired at the western Negev and Ashkelon.
Ten people were treated for shock in the attacks, for which the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization claimed responsibility. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that his Islamist party is not responsible for protecting Israel.
Islamic Jihad said the rockets were new and improved versions of Hamas’s Kassams, and called "al-Kuds," the Islamic name for Jerusalem.
Inside Gaza, an IDF soldier was moderately wounded in clashes with terrorists Wednesday evening. Several PA terrorists were wounded in clashes with the IDF and dozens were arrested.
In Hevron, the IDF arrested wanted terrorist Bilal Hasan Abu Marhiyeh and handed him over to the Shin Bet (General Security Service) for interrogation.
Katyusha Launchers Drove past UNIFIL monitors
The terrorists who launched three Katyusha rockets on Kiryat Shmona this past Sunday rented a car and drove through territory patrolled by the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), according to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.
"Several gunmen were seen launching the rockets, after which they got in their car and drove west towards the Kaka'iya bridge on the Litani River," the center's research report stated. "It was reported that the details of the car were released to Lebanese army roadblocks and to UNIFIL forces, [but] the perpetrators remain at large."
The report noted that the terrorist cell had to pass through UNIFIL and Lebanese army checkpoints in order to reach the launch site.
Arrests in Judea and Samaria
The IDF Wednesday night arrested 13 wanted terrorists in Judea and Samaria. The roundup included two Fatah Tanzim terrorists in Kalkilya, adjacent to Kfar Saba, and five Hamas, Popular Front and Islamic Jihad terrorists in the area of Ramallah, north of Jerusalem.
In Bethlehem, soldiers caught four Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. No incidents were reported during the arrests
Jordanian Terrorist Planned to Kidnap Jews
Security officials disclosed Wednesday afternoon that they arrested a Jordanian with Israeli citizenship more than six months ago for planning to stage a kidnapping in Jerusalem.
They said the terrorist, Alla Hamad, confessed that he was recruited by Hamas while visiting Syria. The terrorists planned to use the kidnapping to bargain for the release of convicted Arab terrorists.