Israeli children living in Jewish communities near the Gaza border were once again ripped from their slumber by parents intent on getting them to safety with only seconds to reach a bomb shelter at around 11:35 pm Thursday night.
The Red Alert incoming rocket siren blared through multiple communities in Nir Am, Sderot, Gavim, Sapir College, Ibim and Yad Mordechai, sending hundreds of people racing for cover.
IDF aircraft and tanks attacked a number of Hamas terrorist observation posts on Thursday afternoon that were being used to gather intelligence in the southern Gaza Strip.
The attack was carried out in response to balloon bombs that were flown into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip and used to attack an IDF observation post.
For the first time, a balloon bomb was launched from the Arab neighborhood of Issawiya in Jerusalem.
Multiple balloon bombs have — as they have been for days – been flown into southern Israel from Gaza, some of them a considerable distance to the north.
One reached as far north and east as the northern Negev city of Dimona, located more than 70 kilometers from Gaza. Another reached Kiryat Gat.
Two more exploded in the air over a town in the Ashkelon Coastal Regional Council district, and one more landed in the Gaza border city of Sderot.
This is a developing story.