ISRAEL: Hamas rockets strike Ashkelon

Record ID: 353565

  • Title: ISRAEL: Hamas rockets strike Ashkelon
  • Date: 10th January 2009
  • Summary: MORE EXTERIORS OF DAMAGED BUILDING RESIDENT ENTERING HOUSE AS SIREN ECHOES AT SECOND SCENE OF ATTACK
  • Embargoed: 25th January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAA0GB3RN9LZ3S4JBKP69X1HB0H
  • Story Text: Hamas rockets hit the Israeli town of Ashkelon, about 20 km (12 miles) north of Gaza, wounding two Israelis.
    At least four rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel on Saturday (January 10,) wounding two Israelis.
    The strikes came as Israeli aircraft, tanks and ships pounded the coastal Strip for a 15th consecutive day.
    One of the rockets hit a three-storey building in the town of Ashkelon, about 20 km (12 miles) north of the Gaza Strip. The wounded were evacuated to a nearby hospital while security personnel recovered the shrapnel.
    Another rocket hit a nearby neighbourhood, forcing people to rush into shelters. Several were treated for shock on site.
    Hamas has fired around 40 rockets into Israel in the past 24 hours.
    In Gaza eight Palestinians were killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabalya, a refugee camp in the north of the Strip, medical officials said. All the dead were believed to be from the same family.
    Both sides are defying international efforts to end the conflict.
    Concerned about the deepening impact of the war on Gaza's 1.5 million people, more than half of whom depend on U.N. food assistance, the United Nations (U.N.) said it was hoping to resume full aid distribution on Saturday after receiving Israeli assurances that its staff would not be harmed.
    Despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and Egyptian-European mediation efforts, Israel appeared set on pressing on with its offensive, designed to stop Hamas rocket fire.
    Medical officials in the Gaza Strip said the Palestinian death toll had risen to 786, of whom more than a third were children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
    Thirteen Israelis have been killed: 10 soldiers as well as three civilians who were hit by Hamas rocket fire.
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