Firing of a Grad rocket (archive)
Firing of a Grad rocket (archive)Arutz Sheva photo: Flash 90

Terrorists from the Gaza Strip fired at least three Grad missiles at southern Israel early  Friday morning. The Iron Dome missile interceptor was successfully employed against some of the Grads, but one missile, fired later in a second round of launchings, hit a synagogue in Ashdod at 8:15 a.m.

A second missile landed next to a yeshiva. Six men were wounded by shrapnel, one of them seriously.

One of the early morning missiles exploded in the vicinity of the city of Be’er Sheva. Two other missiles exploded near Ashdod. At that point, there were no reports of physical injuries or damage in the earlier attacks until 8:15 when Israel's second radio channel announced the hit on the house of prayer.

Several minutes later, a Kassam rocket was launched at southern Israel. The rocket exploded in the vicinity of the city of Ashkelon. No physical injuries or damage were reported.

Overnight, terrorists fired several Kassam rockets from the Gaza Strip. The rockets landed in open area in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damages.

Also, IAF aircraft successfully targeted seven terror targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Thursday. In northern Gaza, the targets included a weapon manufacturing site and two terror activity sites. In southern Gaza, the targets included two smuggling tunnels, a terror tunnel and a terror activity site.

The sites were targeted in response to the combined terrorist attacks that took place Thursday near the city of Eilat and resulted in the deaths of eight Israelis, as well as the firing of rockets at Israel from Gaza following the attacks.

Several hours following the terror attacks, the IDF killed the terrorist commander who presided over the attacks. Prime Minister Netanyahu had announced to the nation that the arch-terrorists were not alive anymore.

The top terrorist was Abu Awad Kamel a-Neirab, commander of the Salah a-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, an offshoot of Hamas. He was killed along with two other head of the PRC and a child who was with him despite the fact that it had been announced that he was a target for the IDF.