On Sunday, Aug. 21, Ira Kerem, the TIPS (Tucson Israel Phoenix Seattle) partnership representative in Israel, reported that following the killing of eight Israelis along the border with Egypt by terrorists based in Gaza, the Israeli air force launched attacks into Gaza. “Since then almost 100 missiles have been fired from Gaza into Ashdod, Ashkelon, and most seriously in Beersheva where a person was killed,” he said. “The area under attack is not just the five communities closest to the border but also moshavim and kibbutzim further north and east,” Kerem noted, adding “luckily most missiles have fallen into open areas but there have been continuous Red Alert warning sirens.” Missiles and mortars were fired into Hof Ashkelon, which is part of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s partnership region
Today, Aug. 26, Kerem reports that “the original ceasefire with Hamas barely lasted 48 hours. In the new rocket attacks, shrapnel from a missile injured a 10-month-old baby at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. The baby is recovering and will be fine. Again the rockets and mortar shells fell around our kibbutzim and moshavim. … Emergency staffs have been meeting in Kiryat Malachi as well as Hof Ashkelon. … A new ceasefire has been declared, we will see what happens.”
