School Canceled in South as Gaza Rocket Attack
Over 100 rockets and mortar shells fall on Israel since Friday; School canceled in all towns between 7-40 km from Gaza Strip; 15 Palestinians killed in IDF responses; Barak expects several days of violence. By REUTERS
Over 100 rockets and mortar shells were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip over the weekend and 15 Palestinians were killed after violence broke out Friday following Israel’s assassination of a top terrorist.
Due to the escalation in violence, the IDF Home Front command along with the heads of a number of local authorities in Israel’s south decided on Saturday night to cancel school in all towns and cities located between 7km to 40km from the Gaza Strip.
Due to the decision, approximately 200,000 children will stay home on Sunday. The ban applies to the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba, Netivot, Sderot, Kiryat Malachi, Gadera, Rahat, Yavneh, Lakiyeh, and the Gan Yavneh Regional Council.
Schools in the western Negev that are closer than 7km to the Gaza Strip will hold class as usual, as they have the necessary reinforcement to protect against the incoming rockets, the Home Front Command said Saturday.
The violence started Friday afternoon after an Israel Air Force aircraft bombed a car in Gaza, killing Zuhair Qaisi, the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and another top terrorist in the organization who was recently released in the Gilad Schalit prisoner exchange.
The IDF said that it decided to bomb Qaisi’s car due to intelligence that he was plotting a large-scale terror attack along Israel’s border with Egypt, like the one that the PRC launched in August which killed eight Israelis. The IDF decided on Friday to close Route 12 - which runs along the border with Egypt - due to fears that the attack might still take place.