Rockets from Gaza hit a residential building in southern Israel
An Israeli man died when rockets launched from Gaza struck a residential building in southern Israel, following Israeli airstrikes that killed two Palestinian rocket commanders on Thursday.
The rocket hit the second floor of a four-story residential building in Rehovot, a city 25 km south of Tel Aviv. Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services confirmed the incident, and Magen David Adom, the country’s emergency medical service, identified the victim as a male resident of Rehovot. The Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot reported that nine people were injured in the building and required hospital treatment.
In the southern Israeli regional councils of Eshkol and Sdot Negev, two people were injured as rockets struck their communities, one being a foreign national and the other an 82-year-old Israeli woman. The rocket fire followed the killing of two Islamic Jihad rocket commanders by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip earlier in the day, which brought the Palestinian death toll to 28.
Since the start of the fighting on Tuesday, official Israeli figures indicate that at least 547 rockets have been fired toward southern and central Israel, with 394 crossing into Israeli territory. Despite efforts by Egypt to negotiate a truce, no progress has been reported, and an Egyptian team was reportedly traveling to Israel for further talks.
