Two Israelis killed in Ashkelon rocket barrage; Top terrorists killed in Gaza

MAY 11, 2021 15:44

Two Israeli women were killed in Ashkelon on Tuesday as barrages of rockets struck the southern city and the IDF continued to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist sites throughout the Gaza Strip.

One woman killed was in her 60s and the other in her 80s.

The Israelis were killed when rockets slammed into their homes in Ashkelon. Minutes later the IDF reported that it had killed two top Islamic Jihad commander responsible for rocket fire in Gaza.

Close to a dozen buildings in Ashdod and Ashkelon were hit by rockets, according to Israel Police. One of the buildings was a school. An 80-year-old woman was seriously injured in the rocket strikes and a number of other people were lightly injured.

The Palestinian terrorist was identified as Samah Abed al-Mamlouk. The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said that he was attacked in a hideout together with a number of additional Islamic Jihad operatives. Al-Mamlouk, the IDF said, was in charge of Islamic Jihad’s rocket arsenal.

In another strike, Hassan Abu al-Atta, deputy commander of Islamic Jihad’s Gaza Brigade, was also killed when the IDF struck an apartment in an eight-story building in Gaza’s Rimal neighborhood. He was the brother of Baha abu Al-Ata who was killed in an Israeli targeted killing 2019.

 

Earlier Tuesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz approved the call-up of 5,000 reservists as the IDF prepared for a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip as rocket attacks against southern Israel continued.

“For every day of shooting at the citizens of Israel – we will send [Hamas and Islamic Jihad] back years and hit them hard,” Gantz said at an operational assessment with Southern Command officers and heads of local municipalities in the South.

“We will not stop until calm returns. We will not stop until we achieve long-term calm and severe damage to the terrorist infrastructure,” Gantz went on to say on IDF operations in the coming days.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi also ordered the reinforcement of the Gaza Division with infantry and armored brigades along with the continued redeployment of intelligence and air units.

IDF strikes terrorists who fired anti-tank missiles from the Gaza Strip, May 11, 2021 (Credit: IDF Spokesperson”s Unit)

Kohavi ordered the continued striking of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad weapons and storage sites as well as the expanding of the strikes to other targets including operatives of the terror groups.

The IDF struck over 130 targets throughout Gaza overnight Monday as southern Israel was bombarded by over 400 rockets since Monday afternoon, injuring over 70 Israelis.

In retaliation to the rocket fire that terror groups said came as part of an operation called “Sword of Jerusalem”, the IDF carried out waves of airstrikes against terror targets in an operation they call “Guardians of the Wall.”

Shortly afterwards, a number of barrages of rockets were fired towards Ashdod and Ashkelon, with three residential buildings hit directly by rockets, leading to light injuries.

Hamas took responsibility for the barrages, stating that the “Al-Qassam Brigades directed the largest missile strike so far on the occupied cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, in response to the enemy’s continued targeting of houses and resistance men, and the next is greater, God willing.”

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman warned that the military is “prepared for a variety of scenarios” including an escalation and said that the operation would last “several days” and would deal a hard blow to Hamas.

As such, the IDF has deployed additional Iron Dome batteries to the southern Gush Dan region.

The 101st Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade and the Egoz commando unit were called up to southern Israel and the 202nd Battalion was called up to the West Bank on Tuesday morning.

Under orders from the IDF Home Front Command, local councils within a 40-kilometer radius of the Gaza Strip shut schools on Tuesday and banned large public gatherings. Under the restrictions, only 10 people can gather outside and 50 inside, as long as there is a bomb shelter nearby that can accommodate all participants.

“We will continue to act vigorously against Hamas and other terror organizations,” Zilberman said, adding that Hamas is responsible for “what is happening and will bear the consequences.”

Referring to the casualties in Gaza, he said that while Israel “takes precautions” to minimize possible harm to civilians during its military operations, Hamas “deliberately places its military assets in the heart of the civilian population in Gaza.”

The spokesman stressed that while more than 200 rockets had been fired toward Israel, a third of them fell inside Gaza. The Iron Dome missile defense system has been having a 90% success rate in intercepting dozens of rockets fired from the Strip, he said.

Nevertheless, several homes sustained direct hits from the rocket fire.

One rocket struck a house in Nir Am, in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, shortly after midnight on Monday night; no injuries were reported.

On Tuesday morning, at around 6 a.m., a wave of rockets hit two residences in Ashkelon. One rocket hit a family home; the father suffered moderate-to-serious injuries to his head, the mother was in moderate condition and the children suffered from light injuries. Later in the day, a number of residential buildings in Ashdod and Ashkelon were hit by rockets.

Hamas had threatened Israel on Monday that it would launch the rockets due to the ongoing clashes in Jerusalem and shortly after 6 p.m. seven rockets were fired towards the capital.

Hamas warned Egyptian officials overnight on Monday that the terrorist groups in Gaza refused to engage in any negotiations unless Israel withdraws security forces from the Temple Mount and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and releases all those detained in recent clashes in Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. Hamas also demanded the canceling of planned evictions in Sheikh Jarrah.

Another Ashkelon home which was hit by the Tuesday morning wave of rockets. (Credit Ashkelon News)

 

An anti-tank guided missile also struck a civilian vehicle near Sderot, causing light injuries to the driver, who was just several meters from his vehicle. He was transferred to hospital for medical treatment.

According to Zilberman, “Hamas will feel our response to this event… it will not last several minutes, but days.”

An IDF drill, known as “Chariots of Fire,” which was meant to be the military’s largest exercise and would have involved all units of the IDF, was postponed. “Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi ordered the IDF to focus its efforts on preparation and readiness for the possible scenarios of escalating [violence],” the military said in a statement.

Following the rocket fire, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj.-Gen. Rassan Alian announced the immediate closure of the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings until further notice, except for humanitarian and exceptional cases.

“The Hamas terrorist organization is accountable for all that is done in and from the Gaza Strip toward the State of Israel, and it will therefore bear the consequences for the violence committed against the country’s citizens,” COGAT said in a statement.