(UTV|COLOMBO) – A rocket fired from Gaza struck a residential home in southern Israel early Wednesday and the Israeli military began attacking militant sites in Gaza in response as days of rising tensions appeared to be erupting into a new round of violence.
The Magen David Adom medical service said a woman and her three children in the home in Beersheba were being treated for shock symptoms after they fled to their shelter upon hearing sirens warning of the incoming projectile. It said two others were injured during the panic to seek cover.
Another rocket from Gaza struck a beach near one of Israel’s larger cities. No injuries were reported. Following the attacks, schools in Beersheba were cancelled and Israel’s military chief was cutting short his visit to the United States to come back and manage the crisis.
The rocket attack on Beersheba was the first in months and the first that hit an Israeli home since the 2014 summer war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. It comes a day after Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the time had come to deliver a “heavy blow” to Hamas after weeks of escalating violence along the border.
