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Last update - 20:28 04/01/2009
Four lightly wounded as 50 Gaza rockets pound southern Israel
By Yanir Yagna and Yuval Goren, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service
Tags: Hamas, Gaza, Israel News 

Gaza militants shot 50 rockets into Israel on Sunday, a day after Israel launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip aimed at stemming the cross-border rocket fire.

Two rockets struck the Eshkol region, leaving two people lightly wounded.

At least seven rockets struck Sderot on Sunday, lightly wounding one woman. Another rocket hit a house in the western Negev town, leaving four suffering from shock.

Meanwhile, a Grad rocket fired from Gaza struck Ashdod. One woman suffered light wounds from smoke inhalation.



A rocket fired on Saturday scored a direct hit on a house in Netivot, causing the structure to completely collapse. The resident of the house sustained minor shrapnel wounds to her legs in the attack.

Late on Sunday afternoon a rocket struck in the Sha'ar Hanegev regional council area, while two Grad rockets hit Netivot. Four rockets stuck the Eshkol area. An additional nine rockets also hit the Sderot area.

Earlier Saturday, a barrage of Palestinian rockets directly hit an apartment building in Ashdod, wounding two Israelis lightly.

Two more people were treated for shock.

Ashkelon house suffers direct hit

A house in Ashkelon also suffered a direct hit, as three rockets rained down on the city Saturday morning.

An additional strike was reported in Kiryat Malachi, the first such attack in the northern Negev city.

On Friday, two salvoes of Grad rockets struck Ashkelon, with a home in the southern city sustaining a direct hit. A person in an adjacent house suffered shrapnel wounds as a result of the strike.

Five people suffered shock in the targeted building.

The second salvo included two Grad rockets: One hit an open area, and the other struck a residential area, hitting a vehicle and sparking a fire. Three more people suffered shock.

The owner of the home that was directly hit, Hagai Ben Avraham, said that he had just gotten out of the shower and was preparing to go to synagogue when he heard the early warning siren and headed for the protected room in the house when the Grad hit.

'tomorrow I will say a blessing first thing in the morning'

"It's an obvious miracle," he said, after the rocket penetrated his shingled roof. "The entire family has called already. Neighbors invited us to spend Shabbat at their house. I'm not worried. It looks like I won't get a chance to pray tonight, but tomorrow I will say a blessing first thing in the morning."

Ben Avraham added that he had just finished renovating his house only three days earlier.

Three additional rockets hit the Eshkol Regional Council, with one rocket exploding in a resident's yard.

Early Friday morning, Gaza militants fired four rockets into Ashkelon. Three of them hit residential areas. One of the rockets scored a direct hit on an apartment building, but the lives of the residents were spared as they had spent the night in shelters. In another incident, a woman sustained minor shrapnel wounds and three others suffered shock.

Two more rockets hit the Sdot Hanegev Regional Council and two Qassams hit Sderot. No one was hurt, and no damage was reported.

The Israel Air Force fired missiles at Palestinian rocket launching squads in the Gaza Strip directly after a rocket salvo hit Ashkelon, and destroyed two rocket launchers.

A barrage of more than 50 rockets at southern Israel on Thursday, one of which scored a direct hit on an eight-floor residential building in the northern Negev city of Ashdod, nearly 40 kilometers from the Hamas-ruled coastal territory.

That strike caused severe damage to the building, but all residents were evacuated without injury.

Rockets continued exploding over the course of the afternoon in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, cities previously considered out of the range of Gaza rockets.

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