Iron Dome intercepts mortar after 2 days of calm
Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening, while at least another shell landed in open areas, a senior officer in the IDF said.
Rocket alert sirens were activated moments earlier in Kissufim and other communities in the Eshkol Regional Council bordering the northern Gaza Strip.
“No projectiles have landed within Israeli settlements. At the moment, we are scanning the perimeter and there is no knowledge of damage,” said a council spokesman.
“We are not willing to live with sporadic rocket fire into our territory,” said Eshkol Regional Council head Gadi Yarkioni. “We put our faith in
the IDF and the political leadership to make the right decisions for a return to long-term calm.”
According to a senior IDF officer in the Southern Command, the warning system has been improved for residents within seven kilometers of the Gaza Strip, giving them 23 seconds to run for shelter, up from the previous 15 seconds.
IDF troops were searching the area for the fallen projectiles.
Local Palestinian media reported that at least one tank shell struck a Hamas observation tower in response.
The Popular Resistance Committees reportedly carried out Saturday night’s attacks in retaliation for the death of 21-year-old paramedic Razan al-Najjar, who was killed Friday during violent protests in southern Gaza.
The mortar fire came after two days of relative quiet in southern Israel after the most significant escalation between the IDF and terrorist groups in the Hamas-run coastal enclave in four years.
After more than 100 mortars and rockets were launched toward Israeli communities by the Iranian-funded Islamic Jihad and Hamas, a senior IDF officer in the Southern Command said on Saturday that Israel is at its closest point to war since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
It was the largest salvo fired from the Strip and Israel retaliated with its harshest response since the 2014 Gaza war, striking 65 targets across the entire enclave.
“The state currently does not want conflict in the South because there are other, wider considerations,” the IDF spokesman said, adding, “Our policy is to return to security stability quickly, to continue building the barrier against terrorism tunnels, and to enable the IDF to cope with greater threats. We acted wisely and logically this week and are prepared for a battle greater than the previous Gaza war, to which we are closer than ever.”
According to the spokesman, the Islamic Jihad has not yet shown all its strength, and under the guidance of Tehran, might still be able to act against Israel from Gaza.
“This week, Islamic Jihad operated with Iranian consent and Iran has an interest in escalating the situation in Gaza in light of what is happening in Syria and other areas,” he told reporters.
Should war break out, the senior officer said, the Southern Command is in a state of full readiness for war. “We have significant tools that we still haven’t used. When and if the time comes, we will use UIFN u