Four Israeli commandoes were lightly wounded last night in a raid on a rocket launching site in the Gaza Strip from which long-range rockets had been fired at Israel. The commandoes encountered fire from Hamas terrorists, and returned fire. They were transferred to a hospital in Israel.
The commandoes attempted to land on the Al-Sudaniyeh beach in the north of the Gaza Strip. As they approached the launching site, they met armed resistance, and in the ensuing skirmish heavy weapons were deployed. Israel Air Force attack helicopters and F-16 planes were called in to the area. After the commandoes had withdrawn the aircraft attacked the launching site. There are reports that three terrorists were killed in the exchange of fire.
This morning, Hamas continued to fire rockets and Iron Dome batteries intercepted four rockets in the Ashdod and coastal plain areas. Air raid sirens were also sounded in Rishon LeZion, Ness Ziona, and Be'er Yaakov.
The IDF stepped up its offensive in the Gaza Strip at the weekend, and began calling for the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from entire areas in the north of the Strip in advance of an assault on terrorist targets and long-range rocket launching sites.
Last night, at least eighteen people were killed in the Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City, when the IDF bombed the house of Taysir al-Batash, the commander of the Gaza police force. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that all the dead were members of Batash's family, but that he himself had survived and was hospitalized in a severe condition. About 50 people were injured in the attack.
Two rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon exploded in open areas in the Western Galilee, and there were no casualties.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 13, 2014
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