At least 20 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza in the past hour. Hamas takes credit for its ongoing violation of the temporary ceasefire. (Unless otherwise stated, information in this post is taken from The Times of Israel live blog for Tuesday August 19, 2014.)
RIGHT NOW: Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area, including in Rishon LeZion, Holon, and Bat Yam.
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) August 19, 2014
The Times of Israel reported at 23:20 Israel time (4:20 PM EDT):
As a temporary ceasefire between Israel and terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip quickly unravels, over 20 rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip in one hour, Channel 2 reports.
A rocket landed in an open area in Tel Aviv.
ISRAEL: TERRIFYING IMAGE – Rocket sent from Gaza falls on a highway in Tel Aviv, B’H nobody was injured. PHOTO – pic.twitter.com/mlp8wPhQvv
— KolHaolam (@KolHaolam) August 19, 2014
Israel is ordering the opening of shelters up to 80 kilometers from Gaza.
UPDATE: The IDF Home Front Command has furthered on previous instructions and ordered to open bomb shelters within range of 40-80 km of Gaza
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 19, 2014
Hamas took credit for a rocket fired towards Jerusalem. The reported sound of a “thud” indicated that the rocket was successfully intercepted.
Home Front Command orders public bomb shelters to re-open in following areas: Rishon Lezion, Rehovot, Nes Ziona, Holon, Bat Yam, Tel Aviv.
— Israel Breaking (@IsraelBreaking) August 19, 2014
Hours after rockets shattered the cease-fire and hit Gaza frontier communities, three loud explosions were heard over Tel Aviv, shortly before 11 p.m., for the first time in over a week.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. It also said it launched a J-80 rocket at the Ben Gurion Airport, though there were no reported strikes near the airport.
Rocket alert sirens were heard all over southern communities, Beersheba, central Israel and as far as Beit Shemesh – which borders the nation’s capital.
Hamas says it has fired 50 rockets toward Israel, including one targeting Ben-Gurion Airport.
The Jerusalem Post reported that there were no reported strikes near Ben Gurion.
After midnight Hamas claimed that the reason for the barrage was the strike on a house in Gaza, leading to speculation that Israel had hit the home of a senior Hamas official in one of its retaliatory raids in response to Hamas’ ceasefire violations. Unconfirmed rumors are that the target of the strike was terror mastermind Mohammad Deif.
The United States blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire. State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf said, “Hamas has security responsibility for Gaza,” and reiterated America’s support for Israel’s right to self-defense.
[Photo: Israel Defense Forces / Flickr ]