One Israeli killed by Grad rocket in Ashkelon

Yes, the rockets are not toys. The grad is regular Soviet military ordinance and it kills people quite efficiently. It is insane to fire such rockets at civilian targets.

Last update - 12:24 29/12/2008       
Israeli killed as barrage of Palestinian rockets pound west Negev
By Amos Harel and Yanir Yagna, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service, and Reuters

One Israeli was killed and fourteen others wounded by a Palestinian Grad missile which exploded near a construction site in the coastal town of Ashkelon.

 

Most of the wounded are construction workers from the Galilee village of Manda and the Bedouin town of Rahat. Five are in serious condition, four are in moderate condition, and five suffered light injuries.

 

Curious onlookers have gathered at the site despite the Home Front Command's directives to the public to avoid loitering in groups outdoors.
 
At least 17 rockets have been fired into Israel since Monday morning - nine which hit Ashkelon, five struck Sderot and four others which struck various towns in the western Negev. One home in Sderot suffered a direct hit. Channel 2 reported that the victims in the home were treated for shock.

 

"I'm standing next to the body," Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin told Israel Radio by telephone, on the third day of an Israeli air offensive in the Gaza Strip. "To my great regret, we have a fatality. He was killed."

 

Sirens wailed intermittently on Monday morning in Ashkelon as television crews captured footage of panicked residents seeking cover from the incoming projectiles.

 

On Sunday, Gaza-based Palestinians launched a barrage of at least 40 rockets at the western Negev on Sunday, as the Israel Air Force continued to pound the coastal territory.

 

Two Katyusha rockets, with a diameter of 122 mm, exploded near Ashdod on Sunday. More than 30 kilometers from Gaza, this was the deepest into Israel a Palestinian rocket has yet to strike.

 

The rockets, which are the most improved versions of the Palestinian missiles, have a range of up to 40 kilometers. The particular rockets that struck on Sunday traveled 37 and 35 kilometers.