10-Feb-14: Early afternoon rocket attack on southern Israel

A perfect late winter day here in Jerusalem: sun shining, light breeze, clear blue skies. A delight. And in southern Israel, an hour or so driving time from here, another reminder of the self-negating, boundless hatred that animates many of the people with whom we share a border.

Just before 2:00 pm, the Tzeva Adom sirens in the communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip being wailing. No confirmation yet from the IDF but over at Walla! News, they report (in Hebrew) that two rockets were fired and, as it appears, crashed into open land in the Hof Ashkelon region which was last attacked by Gazan rockets just this past Thursday. No reports of injuries or damage. But the intention of the jihadists who take the risk of an attack on Israeli civilians (it's always against civilians) speaks of a passion to do whatever damage they can.

And if today did not deliver the results of which they dream, there's always tomorrow.

[UPDATE 2:55 pm Monday: At Ynet, they're saying now that one rocket crashed near the border fence. No word about the second one. And at Times of Israel, they say it was just one rocket. And at GANSO, based in Gaza, they say one rocket was fired around 2:00 pm but another was fired some hours earlier, at about 7:45 am, from Khan Yunis "toward the Green Line", which in their lexicon is how they refer to Jews and Israelis. See the screen shot just below.]

For a clearer look, click here

Hof Ashkelon might sound exotic and remote if you're far from here. But for thousands of Israelis it's simply home. The region encompasses 19 communities, including five kibbutzim, eleven moshavim, two communal settlements and a youth village. A brief video clip here provides an insight into the optimistic and constructive lives lived there.