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Iron Dome Intercepts Rocket Over Tel Aviv

Meanwhile, IDF soldiers kill Hamas gunmen trying to infiltrate army base

by
Stephanie Butnick
July 08, 2014
The Iron Dome air-defense system fires to intercept a rocket over the city of Ashdod on July 8, 2014, in Ashdod, Israel. (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)
The Iron Dome air-defense system fires to intercept a rocket over the city of Ashdod on July 8, 2014, in Ashdod, Israel. (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza toward Tel Aviv, the Times of Israel reports. This latest rocket attack was in response to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge military campaign, which has launched more than 146 air strikes since it began overnight. Still, this rocket’s proximity to the well-populated coastal city of Tel Aviv (as opposed to the more than 200 that preceded it recent days, which either fell in open areas or were intercepted) is particularly troubling, as it signals both an escalation in the attacks coming from Gaza as well as an increasing accuracy of the rockets being fired.

The militant group Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the rocket attack.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces shot and killed four armed Hamas militants attempting to infiltrate the Zikim army base in the northern Negev Desert by sea. An Israeli soldier was lightly injured in the attack, and the roads from Zikim to Ashkelon have been closed off.

The number of Palestinian casualties has risen to 16.

For live updates on the situation unfolding in Israel, you can follow along with the Times of Israel and Haaretz, which are both updating their blogs in real time.

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.