JERUSALEM (JTA) — One Israeli was killed and two children were wounded in separate attacks Saturday evening as rockets from Gaza continued to pound Israel.
More than 30 long-range Grad rockets and mid-range Kassam rockets, as well as mortars, fired from Gaza struck Israel on Saturday, and more than 70 projectiles have struck Israel since terrorist attacks killed 8 Israelis and wounded more than 20 on Aug. 18, according to the IDF.
One man was killed and at least three severely injured when several Grad rockets struck Beersheba. The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted one rocket over Beersheba. Two children were wounded when four Grad rockets landed in Ofakim, several miles west of Beersheba.
The Popular Resistance Committees and Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks. Hamas later recanted. Early on Saturday, Hamas announced on a Gaza radio station that it was cancelling its truce with Israel.
Following Saturday night’s attacks, the Israeli Air Force attacked a cell of terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, the fifth such terrorist squad responsible for targeting Israel struck by Israel’s military since Aug. 18, according to the IDF. Also since Aug. 18, Israel’s Air Force has targeted fifteen terror sites across the Gaza Strip, including: terrorist infrastructures, outposts, smuggling tunnels, terror tunnels used for storage of weapons and rockets and to attack Israel, and manufacturing facilities.
"Over the last two days, Israel has been hitting back hard at those responsible for the attack in the south, and is acting with efficiency against the launching of Grad missiles and rockets from Gaza in order to protect the citizens of Israel," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Saturday.
Barak announced an IDF investigation into the deaths of members of Egyptian security forces during the Aug. 18 terror attack, as well as a joint investigation with the Egyptian military.
Barak expressed regret at the deaths of the five soldiers, averting a crisis with Egypt over the incident.
"The Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty has great importance and much strategic value for the stability of the Middle East," Barak said.
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