At 10:03 this morning (August 14, 2014) Gaza terrorists fired a Qassam rocket at the Eshkol Regional Council district.
The launch triggered a Code Red rocket alert siren that sent residents scrambling to shelters and safe rooms, disrupting work and play activities in the middle of a summer morning.
The rocket exploded in an open area of the district. There is no word yet on property damage. No one was physically injured.
But this attack occurred on the first of a five-day “cease-fire” allegedly agreed to by the Palestinian Arab factions in Cairo and intended to allow time to work out “final issues” between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Is the cease-fire only meant for Israel?
Last night (Wednesday, August 13) Hamas broke the previous 72-hour cease-fire that had been in place, launching three rocket attacks nearly three hours before the deadline had arrived.
One missile was intercepted over the coastal city of Ashkelon by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, indicating it was headed directly for a densely populated area.
Two other rockets exploded in open areas near the city of Sderot, located about a mile from Gaza — as the missile flies, so to speak — and just south of Ashkelon. Hamas claimed it had not fired the attacks, which if true means that either it has lost control over the other terror groups in Gaza, or gave silent approval (wink wink) so it could abdicate responsibility for the attacks.
Either scenario adds up to the same score. Israel has to effectively deal with the terrorist threat in Gaza.