Gaza terrorists fire mortars (file)
Gaza terrorists fire mortars (file)Flash 90

At approximately 6 p.m. on Monday evening Gaza terrorists launched a particularly ferocious mortar barrage on the Sedot Negev and Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council areas.

A full 20 mortar shells peppered the Israeli communities in the course of a mere ten minutes - miraculously no injuries were inflicted by the onslaught.

Around half-an-hour before the 6 p.m. barrage, the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system shot down a rocket aimed at Ashdod. Despite the interception, a large piece of shrapnel damaged the roof of a mall in the city, causing great damage and panic.

Later, at roughly 8:00 pm, sirens sounded throughout the Tel Aviv region.

One rocket was intercepted over Kiryat Ono; no injuries or damage were reported. Hamas's "military wing" claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Yediot Aharonot, and claimed that they fired a "domestically produced" M-75 rocket on the heavily populated Gush Dan area. 

Mortar fire has proven to be a particularly lethal weapon in the arsenal of the Hamas terrorist organization, killing several soldiers during the course of Operation Protective Edge, and just last Friday murdering four-year-old Daniel Tragerman hy''d in Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

The sudden uptick in mortar fire comes as rocket fire from Gaza shows no sign of slowing down, with around 100 rockets fired Monday despite reports of an imminent ceasefire.

Since Sunday night at midnight the IDF reports striking 70 terror sites in Gaza.

One of those strikes took out "Army of Islam" terrorists in their car in the Sheijaya neighborhood, as they were on their way to fire rockets at Israel from a local school.