11 novembre : plus de 70 roquettes tirées contre Israël depuis samedi soir

Israel under fire - November 2012

11 Nov 2012

About 70 rockets have been fired at southern Israel from Gaza since Saturday evening, after an anti-tank missile struck a military jeep near the Karni crossing wounding four soldiers, two seriously.

	Remains of a rocket that exploded in a kibbutz in southern Israel (Photo: Reuters)

  

Sourc : mfa.gov.il

Four soldiers in a military jeep were wounded on Saturday, November 10, when an IDF force patrolling near the Karni crossing, inside Israel, sustained a direct hit by an anti-tank missile fired from a location east of the Gaza Strip neighborhoods of Zeitun and Sajaiya. Two soldiers suffered serious injuries and were airlifted to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Two others were rushed to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon in moderate condition, suffering from shrapnel wounds. The IDF responded to the source of fire.

Over 30 rockets were fired overnight from the Gaza Strip, hitting southern Israel. The Home Front Command has directed residents of communities near the Gaza Strip to remain within 15 seconds from protected areas and not to remain in open areas. Shortly after 9 pm the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system intercepted a rocket over the Israeli city of Ashdod. Another rocket fell in an open area near Ashdod.
Rocket fire resumed on Sunday morning, with some 40 rockets hitting Sderot, Eshkol, Shaar Hanegev and Hof Ashkelon councils. Two people were lightly wounded in a neighborhood watch patrol car in Shaar Hanegev. Another person sustained light wounds in Shaar Hanegev and one other person was lightly injured in Sderot. The Iron Dome defense system later intercepted a Grad rocket headed for Beersheba.

PM Netanyahu (Nov 11): "The IDF is operating, and will operate, aggressively against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, which are taking heavy blows from the IDF. The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to attack us. We are prepared to intensify the response."

Trails of smoke are seen after the launch of rockets from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel - November 11, 2012 (Photo: Reuters)

In response, overnight IAF aircraft targeted a weapons manufacturing facility, two weapons storage facilities, and two rocket-launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as a weapons storage facility and a terror activity site in the southern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were confirmed.

In recent weeks, a number of incidents have occurred in the southern Gaza Strip, including an attack using explosives against an IDF armored personnel carrier, wounding a company commander, and another attack with explosives. On Thursday, November 8, an IDF engineering force located a number of powerful explosive devices to the west of the fence. After the IDF disarmed charges found on the Gaza side of the border, and were repairing the border fence, explosives in an underground tunnel were detonated, causing a large explosion that exposed a tunnel roughly four meters deep and four meters wide, damaging a jeep and lightly injuring a soldier.

Following the attack, the Defense Ministry ordered the temporary closing of the Kerem Shalom crossing, the main checkpoint through which goods are delivered to Gaza Strip. "The IDF will not risk the lives of the crossing's employees, or the troops stationed there, despite the great importance of ensuring goods and humanitarian aid are delivered to Gaza."