Terrorists based in the Gaza Strip launched multiple rockets at Israel within the space of days, in an escalation of violence.
On Sunday night, a barrage of three rockets was fired from the Gaza Strip at the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
The rockets were intercepted just over a busy open air music festival in the southern town of Sderot, called Sderot Live! The attack sent thousands of local residents running towards bomb shelters and caused mass panic, and forced the early end of the music festival.
Loudspeakers at the event warned festival-goers about the attack and the crowd rushed towards shelters.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that two of the incoming projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system. A local government source said that a rocket had landed near the route 34 highway in southern Israel, causing a major fire.
Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas military targets on Monday morning in response.
On Wednesday, another rocket was fired at Israel but fell short of Israeli territory.
These strikes come amid heightened tensions between Israel and the coastal enclave in the run up to Israel’s snap September 17th poll. At least nine rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since mid-August, the most severe escalation since May.
Four cross-border military attacks have been attempted during this period involving heavily armed personnel from Gaza trying to break through the border fence. All the attempted attacks were intercepted and prevented by IDF units stationed in the area.
