Hamas launched a massive rocket barrage on Tuesday afternoon, injuring at least five Israelis, emergency services said.
Israelis were wounded in separate incidents in Holon, Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Be’er Yaakov, and Yavne while the barrage sent more than one million running for cover. All of the wounded were said to be lightly injured.
Magen David Adom – Israel’s National Blood and Medical Emergency Service – said it is investigating after an attack believed to be the largest since war was declared on Hamas.
The rocket attacks on Israel’s large population centers come as Hamas-run medical authorities in Gaza said 700 people had been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the last day.
Two shrapnel victims were men in their 40s in the towns of Be’er Yaakov and Holon. A 77-year-old man was injured while running to a shelter near Kfar Saba as were two women – one aged 80 in Yavne and one aged 35 in Tel Aviv.
READ MORE: Iran-backed militias claim responsibility for attack on US bases in Syria & Iraq
Sirens were also heard in the northern towns of Elkosh and Netua near the border with Lebanon. Israel said it targeted three terror cells and a Hezbollah position in southern Lebanon earlier today.
The Iranian-backed terror group has been sporadically exchanging fire with the IDF since Hamas attacked on October 7.
Although Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system typically destroys many of the incoming rockets, it can be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of projectiles fired.
The latest Hamas attack comes after Israel launched thousands of airstrikes on Gaza in response to a brutal terrorist attack on October 7 which killed at least 1,400 Israelis and saw more than 200 people taken hostage.
