Israel Matzav

Here we go again: Hamas launches rockets, missing American-Israeli soldier found dead

The cease fire isn't officially over until Midnight (about an hour from now), but Hamas has already started firing rockets into Israel.

Gaza terrorists kept up their rocket assault on Israel Tuesday night by firing an eight-rocket barrage on the southern and Gush Dan central region several minutes before 11 p.m.

Sirens were sounded in the Gush Dan region, the Shfela coastal plain, Ashdod, Be'er Sheva and various areas near Gaza.

With the temporary ceasefire in tatters and set to splutter to a close just over an hour from now, the IDF Homefront Command has ordered all public bomb shelters to be reopened in communities located between 40-80 kilometers from Gaza.

The directives indicates fears Hamas will once again begin launching long-range rockets at major Israeli population centers, including central Israel and the Jerusalem region. Areas effected by the order include all Negev communities, the Beit Shemesh area, the Shomron (Samaria), Judea, Gush Dan and central Israel, Jerusalem, the Jordan Vallet and the Sharon Region, among others.

The Homefront Command have also issued updated directives to communities closer to Gaza, who have already been under fire since terrorists breached the ceasefire earlier Tuesday. Until now, only short and medium-range rockets and mortar shells have been used, but that is likely to change once the truce officially ends at midnight.

Meanwhile, the American-Israeli IDF soldier who was reported missing earlier has been found dead with  gunshot wounds. 

The inspiring words left behind in the blog of IDF soldier David Menachem Gordon (21), who was found dead Tuesday after going missing Sunday, suggest that if his death was an act of suicide, it was not the result of depression caused by his army service.

Writing on his Facebook page after leaving Gaza on July 25, Gordon wrote "unbelievably overwhelmed, not from this mission but from the support and messages of encouragement from family, friends and strangers. I am OK and I've never felt more loved. Thank you all!"

Gordon, originally from Ohio, was working with children in Ramat Beit Shemesh (a very heavily American community in the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv corridor) before joining the IDF.

Read the whole thing. 

Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Operation Protective Edge

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:59 PM