One dead in Tel Aviv suburb as Gaza terror groups continue to attack Israel

Residents of Israel’s southern district, from the Gaza border communities until as far as the town of Yavne, have been ordered to remain inside as nonstop rocket barrages rain down on them. They have been advised to stay in protected areas until further notice.A man was killed Saturday in the central city of Ramat Gan after Hamas fired close to 30 rockets towards central Israel in a large afternoon barrage on the sixth day of fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas.

Hamas said it launched the barrage towards Tel Aviv in response to “the massacre of women and children at the Shati refugee camp.”

The airstrike on the Shati refugee camp killed ten people including eight children. The IDF said that the strike was against an apartment that “serves as terror infrastructure” for Hamas. “The IDF takes precautions to minimize possible harm to civilians during its military activities,” the statement added.

Other rockets fell in the Arab-Israeli town of Taibe and others near the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Tulkarem.

Shrapnel also fell near the Safari in Ramat Gan.Damage from a rocket falling outside of IKEA in Rishon Lezion Israel can be seen, May 15, 2021. (Anna Ahronheim)

Some 200 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday, the IDF reported, with about 30 of them falling short into the Gaza Strip. Another 100 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

Over 2,000 rockets have been launched from the Hamas-run enclave since the start of the fighting on Monday.

An apartment in a high-rise residential building in the southern city of Beersheba was heavily damaged Saturday morning during a rocket salvo from the Strip. No one was injured since the family had been sleeping in the bomb shelter when rockets hit the city.Rockets landed in Ramat Gan and Yavne Saturday morning, and a rocket hit a cow shed in the Eshkol Regional Council killing three cows and causing damage.

Another rocket damaged the electric grid in the southern part of Beersheba on Friday afternoon as it was undergoing repairs, according to the Beersheba City Council. The outage left tens of thousands of people across the city without electricity.

A car caught fire on Friday afternoon after sustaining a direct hit from a rocket in the Beersheba region. One person was lightly injured and received medical treatment on site. Another rocket fell close to the Airforce Technical School, also located in the south of the city.

In Ashdod, which was the target of several rocket barrages overnight, the sixth floor of a multi-story residential building was hit as was a factory in the city’s port. 

Homes in the college-town of Sderot were also damaged, one extensively, when rockets were fired towards the city. Another rocket damaged a store. 

 Damage to a house in the Israeli city of Sderot which was hit by rockets fired by Hamas militants in Gaza, into Israel. May 15, 2021. (AVI ROCCAH/FLASH90)

Sirens sounded in the town of Kiryat Gat during the funeral of 5-year-old Ido Avigail, who was killed two days ago when a rocket made a direct impact on his home in Sderot, penetrating its safe room where they were sheltering..

Ten civilians and one soldier have been killed since Monday. Another 564 people have been injured, six of them seriously.