An 8-year-old boy in Ashdod was injured by flying shrapnel Monday when a missile exploded at midday in a yard. A car was set afire by the same explosion.
A barrage of six missiles were fired at the port city of Ashdod at 12:30 pm, with four intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system. A third landed near a home in the Ashkelon Coastal region, damaging the house. No one was physically hurt in the attack.
In mid-afternoon, another rocket exploded in the space between two homes in Sderot. Miraculously, no one was physically injured.
Gaza terrorists continue to launch barrages of rockets and missiles at Israel, with the focus of their attacks on Monday morning and afternoon concentrated on the southern regions. A number of other attacks were fired at the coastal city of Ashkelon as well as other areas.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – also known as a drone – was shot down with a Patriot missile in the early morning hours by IDF forces deployed near Ashdod.
The explosion from the interception was heard as far away as the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh, in central Israel, readers reported, triggering air raid sirens at approximately 6:30 a.m. local time.
Hamas terrorists later boasted they had sent the drone to photograph shots of the IDF’s Kiryah headquarters in Tel Aviv, and had succeeded in acquiring the intelligence they wanted.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, however, praised the Iron Dome crew that had been alert to the threat and shot down the drone. At a briefing later in the day, Ya’alon pointed to the soldiers’ spotting the drone as an example of the IDF’s “readiness in the face of [their] attempts to harm us in any way they can.”
The IDF spent time this past year drilling precisely for such a scenario, with combat helicopter and fighter jet pilots taking part, according to the Israel Air Force website. Israeli forces are prepared for all types of threats that might face the Jewish State, and have been dishing out a few of their own.
“When Hamas leaders emerge from hiding they will see the extent of the destruction and damage that we have caused their organization, and that will make them regret they entered this round of fighting against Israel,” Ya’alon told reporters.
“We continue to smash Hamas and its infrastructure. They have suffered great damage. We have destroyed weapons factories, tunnels, terrorists’ homes and institutions and we will continue this activity today.”