Zvika Brot
Zvika BrotShlomi Yosef

Bat Yam Mayor Zvika Brot addressed the overnight rocket attack on his city in an interview with Galai Tzahal (IDF Radio) Sunday morning.

"Suddenly I saw the two missiles pass over me, I realized it was related to the alarms in Ashdod. Above the west of the city there was a loud explosion and very quickly I was informed that there was no shooting but an interception by the Iron Dome," Brot said.

"We have received reports of debris found on balconies and even in a school yard. We are conducting scans to find all the debris before the start of the school day," he added.

"I would ask them to check why they did not wait with the self-detonation of the Iron Dome missile? Another 500 meters into the sea and contact with the public could have been avoided," Brot said.

Last night night, an alarm was sounded around 02:00 in the area of ​​Kibbutz Palmachi and in the city of Ashdod, following the launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.

Residents in the Gush Dan area also reported loud explosions and Iron Dome interceptions were observed in the skies of central Israel.

The IDF confirmed that two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory. One launch did not trigger a siren in the Ashdod area in the absence of the need for it. The second launch triggered sirens in the city of Ashdod and in the Shfela region.

“Air defense fighters launched interceptors at the targets in accordance with policy,” the IDF statement said.

No injuries or damage have been reported so far.

In response to the rocket fire, IDF fighter jets, helicopters and tanks attacked underground infrastructure and military positions of the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.

"The IDF is conducting an ongoing assessment of the situation and acts firmly and decisively against any attempt at terrorist activity against the citizens of the State of Israel and the violation of its sovereignty," said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit in a statement.