Israeli killed in rocket barrage in Terl Aviv, South under constant hamass fire.
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https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/05/15/israeli-killed-in-rocket-barrage-on-tel-aviv-south-under-nonstop-hamas-fire/Israeli killed in rocket barrage on Tel Aviv, south under nonstop Hamas fire
A resident of Ramat Gan in his 50s killed when his home sustains a direct hit, bringing the number of Israeli fatalities since fighting broke out Monday to 12. Over 560 Israelis wounded over the past week. IDF destroys hundreds of terror targets in overnight strikes.
By News Agencies and ILH Staff Published on 05-15-2021 17:45 Last modified: 05-15-2021 19:05
Israeli killed in rocket barrage on Tel Aviv, south under nonstop Hamas fire
The street where a rocket hit Ramat Gan, May 15, 2021 | Photo: Israel Police
Gaza Strip-based terrorists fired over 300 rockets at southern Israel between 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday, the IDF said, adding that most of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.
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Around 1:30 p.m. Hamas fired a salvo at the greater Tel Aviv Area, Israel's coastal plain, and in a first for the current hostilities Samaria. The terrorist group said on its social media accounts that the attack included "dozens of rockets."
One man, 55, was killed when a projectile hit a building in Ramat Gan. Several other rockets hit other cities, causing property damage but no injuries.
As of day six of Operation Guardian of the Walls, Palestinian terrorists fired upwards of 2,300 rockets and mortar shells at Israel since fighting broke out on Monday. Twelve Israelis one soldier and 11 civilians have been killed and over 560 have been injured, six of them seriously.
The IDF said that about 380 of the rockets fired from Gaza failed to cross the border and hit areas within the coastal enclave.
Hamas said that Saturday's salvo on central Israel was a reprisal for the killing of a Palestinian family of 10 in Gaza overnight, as IDF strikes targeted several top Hamas officials in the Strip.
Following the barrage on central Israel, IDF aircraft down the Al-Jalaa tower in Gaza, which housed several media outlets in Gaza, including AP and Al Jazeera.
The military had warned the foreign journalists working out of the building to vacate it prior to the strike.
According to Channel 12 News, towers such as Al-Jalaa also usually house "cyber centers and various communications centers" used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"Hamas has turned residential areas in the Gaza Strip into military strongholds," the IDF said on Twitter. "It uses tall buildings in Gaza for multiple military purposes such as intelligence gathering, planning attacks, command and control, and communications.
"When Hamas uses a tall building for military purposes, it becomes a lawful military target. The Israel Defense Forces struck a number of such buildings in recent days, but before we did so, we took steps to try and ensure that civilians would not be harmed.
"We called the building's residents and warned them to leave. We sent SMS messages. We dropped "roof knocker" bombs; they make loud noises and hit only the roof. We provided sufficient time to evacuate.
"We'll say it again: When Hamas places military assets inside such a building, it becomes a lawful military target. This is clear international law. All the multi-story buildings targeted by the IDF were used for military purposes within each building," the Twitter thread concluded.
Earlier Saturday, the IDF downed an explosives-carrying drone that breached Israeli airspace from Gaza.
Several homes in Beersheba and Ashdod sustained direct hits by Gaza rockets fired overnight and early in the morning.
One rocket damaged the electric grid in southern Beersheba it was undergoing repairs from a previous barrage, the municipality said. The outage left tens of thousands of people across the city without electricity.
In Gaza, fighting has so far left 140 people dead, including 39 children and 22 women.
IDF Spokesman in English Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the military aims to minimize collateral damage in striking military targets. But measures it takes in other strikes, such as warning shots to get civilians to leave, were not "feasible this time."
Meanwhile, a Cairo intelligence official privy to the medication efforts seeking to end the current hostilities said Israel had declined an Egyptian proposal for a one-year ceasefire that Hamas had accepted.
On Friday, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israel-Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr arrived in Israel as part of an attempt by Washington to de-escalate the conflict.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the US supports Israel's right to defend itself, also stating that "there has not been a significant overreaction" in Israel's response to Hamas rockets
The UN Security Council was set to hold its third session this week on the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
As talks of a ceasefire were gaining some momentum, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas on Friday that "it's not over yet.
I said we would deal Hamas and other terrorist groups significant blows, and we are doing so.
"In the last day, we attacked underground targets. Hamas thought it could hide there, but it can't. Hamas leaders think they can escape from our grasp. They cannot escape. We can reach them everywhere, all of their people and we will continue to do so," Netanyahu said in a video statement.
"They attacked us on our holiday [Jerusalem Day], they attacked our capital, they fired missiles at our cities; they are paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for that," he said. "It's not over yet. We will do everything to restore security to our cities and our citizens."
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