JERUSALEM (JTA) — Cross-border attacks between Israel and Gaza continued, with two long-range rockets reaching deep into Israel.
At least six rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza on Thursday, with two striking the port city of Ashdod, located some 21 miles from Tel Aviv.
Several mortar shells and Kassam rockets also hit Israel overnight Wednesday.
In response to the attacks from Gaza, Israel’s Air Force struck smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza and what it called a "terror activity site" in northern Gaza early Thursday. Israeli media cited Palestinian reports that the Israeli military attacked other Gaza targets later in the day.
School was canceled Thursday in Beersheba and Ashdod due to the attacks.
Since Gaza terrorists launched more than 50 mortars at southern Israel last weekend, the area has been hit with more than 30 rockets, according to the Israeli army.
On Wednesday, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Meron Reuben, sent a letter to the head of the U.N. Security Council and to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to express his "grave concern in the face of a very serious escalation of Palestinian terrorist attacks targeting innocent Israeli civilians, which threatens to undermine stability in our region."
The letter noted the increase in tensions on Israel’s border with Gaza — "a marked increase in terrorist activity deliberately targeting Israeli civilians over the past several days" — and the bombing of a central Jerusalem bus stop, which killed a British tourist and injured dozens.
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