Free Republic

A classroom in a special education school in Ashdod has served as a makeshift synagogue on Sabbaths for 40 years running. Throughout those years, not one Sabbath prayer was missed. Until this last Sabbath. And that was what saved the congregants from a Gaza missile that struck the synagogue's courtyard Saturday. Netanel Mor Yosef, a member of the congregation, explained to Arutz Sheva: "The synagogue is active, but only on the Sabbath, for the past 40 years. Not a single Sabbath prayer session was ever missed until this week. Then synagogue's gabbai (treasurer-manager) underwent an operation during the week and...

The rocket attacks from Gaza continued overnight Saturday, giving local residents a restless night. Two rockets were fired towards Be’er Sheva just after 3:00 a.m. (Israel time). The rockets exploded in open areas and there were no reports of physical injuries or damage. At about 5:00 a.m. Israel time, a Grad missile exploded north of the city of Ashkelon. There were no physical injuries or damage. Meanwhile, IAF aircraft targeted six terror activity sites in Gaza overnight. Three rocket launching sites and one terror tunnel were targeted in northern Gaza, and two terror activity sites were targeted in southern Gaza....

A man in his 50s was killed Saturday night as more rockets fell in southern Israel, with missiles hitting Ashkelon. Two people were injured in Ashkelon, as Grad rockets struck several parts of the city. One of the rockets hit in or near a house, and a very loud explosion was heard – indicating the possibility, a Magen David Adom spokesperson said, that a gas canister had been hit. One person was taken to Barzilai Hospital in the city in serious condition, where he later died of his wounds. A second person was injured lightly to moderately when another rocket...

Gaza terrorist squads fired three Grad medium-range missiles and three mortar shells into Israeli territory Sunday evening. The rockets and shells exploded in open areas within the Eshkol and Hof Ashkelon local authorities. No one was hurt and no damage was caused. Security sources said that the Iron Dome systems successfully intercepted one rocket. Three missiles salvos were fired at Be'er Sheva and two at Ashkelon Sunday morning. One Grad missile hit a gymnasium in a high school. No one was hurt but the structure was damaged. Another Grad missile was intercepted.

After two days of relative quiet on the Gaza front, Gaza terrorists fired a short range missile into Israel Thursday. It exploded south of Ashkelon, but caused no casualties or damage. Israeli security forces are looking for the remains of the rocket. The Iron Dome system, which is supposed to protect against missile strikes, is currently only stationed near Be'er Sheva. It did not go into action. IAF jets attacked a terrorist cell in Gaza Wednesday, in response to the rocket fire Tuesday. An Islamic Jihad terrorist was killed. Arab sources said the man was killed east of Rafiah.

SNIPPET: "Police are working to figure out the origin of the rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip Saturday evening and exploded near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, without causing damage or injures. A total of four rockets and two mortar shells were fired at Israel on Saturday, causing no injuries. An initial examination revealed that the rocket fired at Nahal Oz was manufactured using professional means, most likely outside of the borders of the Gaza Strip. The rocket had a diameter of 115 millimeters, and police sappers were working to locate fragments of it to be tested."

"Navy foils attack in waters near Gaza" SNIPPET: "As Gaza flotillas make headlines, Palestinian cell wearing diving suits attempts to launch attack from sea. IDF force spots cell members in waters of Nahal Aza area, opens fire. Al-Aqsa Brigades say four people killed, one missing. Shortly afterwards, IAF attacks rocket launching cell attacked in northern Gaza; one gunmen moderately hurt SNIPPET: "As the Gaza-bound flotillas continue to make headlines, the Israeli Navy thwarted an attack from the sea early Monday. According to the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit, a Navy force spotted a cell in the waters of the Nahal...

SNIPPET: "Israel Air Force jets attacked three tunnels in the Gaza Strip in a joint Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet operation on Thursday night, several hours after a Qassam rocket hit the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council. Two of the targets attacked were in the southern Strip and one was in the northern Strip. According to the IDF, terrorists were using the tunnels to try to infiltrate Israel. The IDF Spokesperson's Office said the tunnels were located about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) from the border fence and that the targets were hit. There have been no reports of injuries among...

"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

Senior Palestinian source confirms explosive devices found on Ashkelon, Ashdod beaches were meant for attack on southern oil platform, cementing Israeli concerns that Palestinian groups are eyeing strategic facilities A senior member in one of the Palestinian organizations confirmed Monday evening that the two explosive devices found on beaches in southern Israel were meant to be used in a future terror attack an oil rig in the south. The confirmation verified various concerns in the defense establishment, that Palestinian groups will try targeting a strategic facility in Israel. Earlier, an explosive device was discovered floating just off Hofit beach in...

Israel's air force fired around 20 missiles at targets in Gaza City on Saturday, causing heavy damage, a Reuters witness said. The IDF has confirmed the report. (Hanan Greenberg and Reuters)

(IsraelNN.com) The cabinet has voted to accept a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. Two ministers voted against the proposal and one abstained from voting.

SNIPPET: "A North Texas imam is calling on Muslims to take up arms in defense of Palestinians in Gaza. Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains in Lubbock, Texas, participated in an online chat, "Fatwas on Gaza," at the web site IslamOnline.net. El-Shinqiti encouraged readers to fight - or if they can't, to send money to those who are fighting - in response to six out of the eight questions posed to him in the online chat. When asked what can be done to help the people in Gaza, El-Shinqiti emphasized war over sending food...

"HAMAS MISSILES FOR ISRAELI FOOD" (Added January 12, 2009) VIDEO DESCRIPTION - QUOTE: IsraelMFA January 12, 2009 Israel gives food, medicine and electricity to Gaza citizens and gets rockets in return. Category: News & Politics Tags: Israel Hamas war rockets missile humanitarian aid children shield Gaza

A Grad rocket launched from the Gaza Strip directly hit an apartment building in Ashkelon late Monday morning. Since Monday morning some 20 rockets and a number of mortar shells landed in southern Israel.

"HAMAS AND THEIR SYSTEMATIC VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS (NOT TO MENTION BASIC HUMAN DECENCY)" "Video follows"

Note: See map inlcuded on this report. Note: The following text is a quote: JANUARY 9, 2009...17:54 Captured Hamas Intelligence, 9 Jan 2009, 16:26 IST Jump to Comments Confiscated Intelligence Map from Hamas Hamas turn a Gaza neighborhood into a warzone. This map, confiscated Wednesday (Jan. 7) by IDF paratroopers operating in the north of Gaza, shows how Hamas uses an entire neighborhood, rigging it with explosive devices and putting the entire civilian population at great risk. The map shows the al-Tatraa neighborhood in Gaza City divided into three areas of operation (red, blue and green). The dots on the...

SNIPPET: "The fundamental truth is that Hamas' road to Iran runs through the international Muslim Brotherhood, and has for two decades. What is often missing in the discussion of the Muslim Brotherhood is that Hamas, according to its own founding charter, is an integral and armed part of the Ikwhan, not separate from it."

"THE BRIEF LIFE AND EXQUISITE MARTYRDOM OF A HAMAS MORTAR CREW" Snippet: "Via Hamas' al-Aqsa TV station, said to be filmed in Jabaliya on 06 January 2008. At about 1'15" the crew is hit by an apparent Israeli counter-strike."

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Ttragedy_school_Jebaliya_6-Jan-2009.htm Behind the Headlines: The tragedy at the school in Jebaliya 6 Jan 2009 An initial inquiry by forces on operating in the area of the incident indicates that a number of mortar shells were fired at IDF forces from within the Jebaliya school. In response to the incoming enemy fire, the forces returned mortar fire to the source. Preliminary Background Briefing Today, a reported 30 Palestinians were killed in a heartrending tragedy at a school in Jebaliya. Initial investigations indicate that Hamas terrorists fired mortar bombs from the area of the school...

Cheney stressed the US support for the Gaza operation, saying the rocket fire on Israel must stop.

"Summary of Overnight Events, 03 January 2009"

Home Front Command reiterates that residents should immediately take cover if they hear the siren sound, or if they hear an explosion.

"OPERATION CAST LEAD The IDF's Fight Against Terror in Gaza" # A blessed New Year to everyone here and abroad. Today's thread beginning January 1, 2009 (U.S.A. Time)

Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited a Beersheba school hit by a Grad rocket. During the visit, Barak said that "we delivered a serious blow to Hamas, and it continues to be hit – but it's also responding, as we can see." (Ilana Curiel)

Israel.INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "OPERATION CAST LEAD The IDF's Fight Against Terror in Gaza"

A Color Red alert was sounded in Ashkelon Monday, after rockets were launched at the city. Earlier, one man was killed from a rocket attack on a construction site in the city. (Shmulik Hadad)

SNIPPET: "Rocket range extended: Palestinian gunmen respond to IDF operation in Gaza by firing three rockets beyond Ashkelon area, some 40 km away from Strip. Building in moshav near Ashdod; air raid siren sounds in Yavne area" ARTICLE SNIPPET: "After a day which saw dozens of Qassam rockets fired at Israel, Palestinian gunmen resumed the fire on Sunday morning. Three rockets, believed to be Grad missiles, were fired from the Gaza Strip and landed east of the city of Ashdod. One of the rockets caused damage to the windows of a house in a moshav near Ashdod. Explosions were also...

(IsraelNN.com) The Iranian-supplied Grad-type rocket fired at an Ashkelon mall Wednesday was launched from the former Gaza Jewish fishing village of Dugit, which was evacuated and destroyed by Israel in the 2005 Disengagement for the stated purpose of strengthening Israel's security. Hamas-affiliated Popular Resistance Committees Spokesman Muhammad Abdel-Al told World Net Daily Wednesday that the attack, which wounded dozens, including children, was launched from Dugit, located along the coast in northern Gaza. Dugit’s residents, mostly secular Jews who made a living fishing in the Mediterranean, left reluctantly, but without a struggle in 2005, when then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his...

At least 14 people were wounded Wednesday evening, including a mother and her three-year-old daughter, when a Grad rocket fired from Gaza hit the Hutzot Shopping Center in Ashkelon. The rocket ripped through the roof of the mall, causing a large chunk of the roof to collapse in a huge pile of rubble and twisted metal. Four windows were blown out of the side of the building. The top floor of the building, which bore the brunt of the attack, is where offices and clinics are located. A hospital official said a woman and her young daughter were seriously wounded,...

Dozens of people were wounded on Wednesday evening, including a baby girl, when a rocket fired from Gaza hit the Hutzot Shopping Center in Ashkelon. The rocket hit the top floor of the building. Several people were reportedly trapped in the rubble. The attack came as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US President George W. Bush concluded their meeting in Jerusalem.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck southern Ashkelon on Tuesday, ending a four-day lull in violence that began directly following the terrorist attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva last Thursday, which left eight yeshiva students dead. No injuries or damage from the rocket strike was reported. The rocket landed in south Ashkelon only a few hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert toured the rocket-plagued city, warning there is no way of assuring that rocket fire on the city would not resume in the future....

Ashkelon resident Moshe Nissimpor decided that the best way to halt rocket fire from Gaza - in light of what he terms the government's failure to do so - is some vigilante justice. Nissimpor developed a homemade 200-millimeter ballistic missile which he planned to launch from Ashkelon into the Gaza Strip. "From this day onwards, we will push back to the stone age every place which dares shoot missiles into Israel's sovereign territory," he said Wednesday. "It is time the world understood Israelis' lives are not expendable." "I'm afraid this is the only language the Palestinians understand, and this is...

Rockets continued to hit Ashkelon and the western Negev after the IDF ground operations in the Gaza Strip were concluded early Monday morning. As the defense establishment began to analyze the recent days of fighting, intelligence officers pointed an accusatory finger toward Teheran. Iranian technology and intelligence was used by Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip in the recent round of violence, said a senior official in Military Intelligence during a Monday meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "Iran's influence and effect is very clear," said the official. Terrorists fired at least 20 Iranian-assembled Grad-type rockets, which are...

ASHKELON, Israel - Residents of this beachside city are still coming to terms with being on the front lines of Israel's battle against Hamas militants. A dozen long-range rockets slammed into Ashkelon over the weekend, marking a significant turning point in the conflict and compelling Israel to strike back hard. ...

3 lightly injured in rocket attack on Ashkelon More than 30 Qassam and Grad rockets fired at Israel since Friday night, three land in Ashkelon. Three people, including two children injured by shrapnel, evacuated to hospital. House sustains direct hit; several people treated for shock Yael Branovsky Latest Update: 03.01.08, 10:15 / Israel News Three people were lightly injured Saturday morning by shrapnel in a Grad rocket attack on the city of Ashkelon. Three rockets were fired at the city, causing lightly injuries and property damage. Several people suffered from shock. Close Call Rocket narrowly misses Knesset members / Shmulik...

(IsraelNN.com) A total of 24 people are hospitalized, mostly for shock, following the firing of more than 30 rockets and mortar shells from Gaza on Israel on Thursday. Among them are two with shrapnel injuries. Among the rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza on Israel on Thursday, eight long-range Grad rockets hit the coastal city of Ashkelon. The city's 100,000-plus rocket-besieged residents were told just last night (Wednesday) by Defense Minister Ehud Barak that there was no need to change the city's deployment plans. The Katyusha-like were fired in several waves in the mid-afternoon hours. Two rockets slammed directly...

Qassam hits kindergarten; 2 children lightly wounded Rocket lands next to kindergarten in town south of Ashkelon; 2 children hurt, 8 suffer shock. Earlier a number of rockets hit central Sderot; no wounded. Residents demand army operations on southern front be boosted to level of northern offensive Qassam attacks continue: A Qassam rocket landed next to a kindergarten in a community south of Ashkelon at 10:45 a.m. Friday. Two children were lightly wounded and eight more people suffered shock. Additionally, the kindergarten building was damaged. Magen David Adom emergency crews arrived at the scene and began treating the children and...

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reluctantly allowed the Israeli Defense Forces this week to begin a more extensive ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip after a Palestinian rocket traveled further than any projectile ever fired from Gaza, hitting the strategic, populated city of Ashkelon about eight miles from the Gaza border. Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced the new IDF operation was aimed in part at stopping the regular Qassam rocket fire from Gaza into nearby Jewish communities. An Israeli soldier and at least 23 Palestinians, mostly militants, have been killed in street battles since yesterday,...

The firing of a rocket from the Gaza Strip to Ashkelon's center on Tuesday constitutes an unequivocal invitation by Hamas to war. The Palestinians who launched the rocket apparently are members of the Hamas military wing, but it's quite possible that either an Iranian or Syrian element interested in intensifying the military conflict with Israel spurred the move. The firing is the longest-range rocket attack to have taken place from Palestinian territory. Rockets previously have hit Ashkelon's outskirts, and were generally aimed at the area's power station, but Israel refrained from cutting off electricity to Gaza. It's quite possible that...

A Qassam rocket landed at the center of the southern coastal city of Ashkelon for the first time on Tuesday evening, hitting the ORT Ronson High School building, causing light damage to the structure but no injuries. Hamas - via its military wing, the Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - later claimed credit for the rocket attack, the deepest ever a Qassam has reached into Israeli territory. "This is a major escalation in the war of terror that the Hamas organization is responsible for," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a speech at the home of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard...

Jul. 4, 2006 19:52 | Updated Jul. 4, 2006 20:24 Kassam rocket lands inside Ashkelon for first time By JPOST.COM STAFF Despite ongoing IDF operations in the northern Gaza Strip, a Kassam rocket landed Tuesday evening in Ashkelon proper - the first time the city center has witnessed such an attack. No one was wounded in the attack, despite the fact that the rocket hit a school in a populated area in the south of the city. Children playing soccer outside an Ort school on Rehov Ben Zvi were thrown back by the force of the explosion, witnesses reported, but...

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' military wing, took responsibility for the Qassam rocket attack on Ashkelon. In a message, the organization said it fired the rocket from northern Gaza. The Qassam rocket landed near a school in central Ashkelon and caused light damage to the building. There were no injuries.

Qassam rocket lands in heart of Ashkelon New reality for southern city's residents: Houses in range of rockets. Loud explosion heard in heart of city, damage caused to high school; no injuries reported. Hamas' military wing claims responsibility for firing rocket Shmulik Hadad In spite of Gaza operation: A Qassam rocket landed Tuesday evening in the heart of the southern city of Ashkelon. Many residents reported hearing a loud explosion inside the Ronson high school, close to the Ashkelon Acadmeic Collage. Large police forces were dispatched to the area. There were no reports of injuries, although a large number of...

Last update - 14:15 18/05/2006 Six Qassams hit south of Ashkelon; terror alert lowered in Jerusalem By Michal Greenberg, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip fired six Qassam rockets at Israel on Thursday afternoon. Six of them landed in Israel to the south of Ashkelon and one of them hit near a strategic facility near the southern coastal city. There were no casualties and no damage was caused. Security forces went on a high terror alert around Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon after receiving a specific warning of a potential terror attack in the area, Army...

Fewer than 2% of settlers sign up for voluntary evacuation 20 families from Pe'at Sadeh and five families from other settlements have agreed to move to Moshav Mafki'in south of Ashkelon. Zeev Klein 27 Dec 04 10:34Fewer than 2% of settlers in Gush Katif and northern Samaria have signed up for voluntary evacuation with SELA (the disengagement administration). 20 families from Peat Sadeh in the southern Gaza Strip and five families from other settlements have agreed to move to Moshav Mafki'in south of Ashkelon. The families to be evacuated have not yet received any money from SELA. Holocaust survivors from...

Noam Federman's desperate struggle has been crowned with success - after more than two difficult months. Israel Prison Service officials arrived in his cell and asked him to sign his consent to be transferred out of Ashmoret Prison - something that he has been demanding since the beginning of his administrative detention in mid-September. In exchange, Federman agreed to stop the hunger strike he began well over seven weeks ago. Noam's wife Elisheva told Arutz-7's correspondent today that "for some reason, they don't do transfers on Thursdays or Fridays, and so it will happen at the beginning of next week."...

Palestinian terrorists have fired four Kassam-2 missiles into Israel this afternoon, one of which landed in the southern Israeli port city of Ashkelon, a military source told The Jerusalem Post. This is the first time that Kassam missiles have landed as far north as Ashkelon, which has a population of 116,000. The rockets were fired from Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip. The IDF reported that no causalities were sustained in the attack. "The Palestinian Authority and all of the terror organizations who were involved with the attack on Ashkelon today, have no understanding as to the extent of how...

Palestinians fire Qassam rocket from Gaza Strip at Zikim beach south of Ashkelon, no injuries

Feb. 25, 2003 Crew of stricken Turkish vessel rescued A Turkish vessel, that had sought safety off from the winter storm that has buffeted Israel in the last 24 hours, broke anchor Tuesday and began to sink. The boat's 10 crewmembers were rescued after abandoning the vessel and taking to lifeboats to await rescue. An IDF helicopter, a tugboat from the Ashkelon harbor and a vessel that was in the area participated in the rescue of the sailors from the Kamal Okan. However, rescue efforts encountered difficulties due to the heavy seas and storms. The Israeli rescue service Magen David...