Rocket and mortar attacks launched from northern Gaza at Israel continued throughout the day Tuesday, albeit with less intensity than has been seen in the past several days.
Six Kassam rockets and two mortar shells were fired at southern Israel by 4:00 p.m. Most landed in open fields near various kibbutzim in the western Negev, with little damage and no injuries reported.
The first attack of the day caused considerable damage, however.
Sderot residents awakened in the early morning light to the wail of the first Color Red rocket alert siren of the day. Less than a half minute later, a Kassam rocket slammed into a house. The house was destroyed, but terrorists failed to hurt anyone in the attack, as no one was home.
The house is one of hundreds abandoned by residents who have become disenchanted with the government’s failure to protect Sderot from the constant rocket attacks fired by Palestinian Authority terrorists in northern Gaza.
Within the hour, the IAF attacked two rocket-launching terrorist cells in separate strikes. Soldiers confirmed hits on both cells. The IDF said the attacks targeted terrorists who were launching rockets at Israel from areas north of Jabalya and east of Gaza City.
Two terrorists were eliminated in the IAF strikes. One was identified as Ayman Cahouji, a member of the Hamas terrorist organization that rules Gaza. The second dead terrorist was not identified.
Undeterred, Gaza terrorists continued their attacks throughout the day.
Damage to the economy in Sderot and in other western Negev communities has ballooned in the past year. The damage to just two of the area’s factories has reached NIS 12 million.
The Hollandia factory in Sderot reported Tuesday morning that it has lost NIS 10 million in direct sales and indirect business due to rocket fire and related damages. Most of the losses were incurred in the past 12 months, according to a report submitted by the company to the Manufacturers Association.
Hadas Rice, CFO of Nahara Industries, reported a loss of NIS 1.8 million in damages to her company’s factory in the region. At least 20 percent of the workers at the Nahara factory have quit their jobs and left the area, she added. As a result, the manufacturer has been failing to meet its production deadlines.
Tuesday morning’s Kassam attack was fired from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, located less than a mile away from Sderot.
The IDF withdrew its forces from the area a scant 24 hours earlier.
Rocket launchers continued to launch their deadly attacks on the western Negev throughout the four-day intensive IDF military operation that eliminated more than 100 terrorists in Gaza since Thursday.
The coastal city of Ashkelon also became a new focal point for rocket attacks from Gaza, with terrorists using the longer-range Grad-type Katyusha rockets to hit targets in the coastal city.
Military censors released for publication Tuesday morning the news that one of the Katyushas exploded close to the home of Public Security Minister Avi Dichter in Ashkelon sometime over the weekend.
A seven-story apartment building in Ashkelon sustained a direct hit by a Grad missile on Monday morning. A second missile exploded in a playground close to a nursery preschool.
The Home Front Command decided after the Grad missile attacks to expand its assistance in helping Ashkelon residents learn to protect themselves against terrorist attacks from Gaza.