16-Sep-14: Incoming mortar from Gaza explodes in Israel tonight

Associated Press in the past ten minutes (it's now 20:45 Tuesday night here): "Israeli military says mortar fired from Gaza hits southern Israel, first time since war's end." A report on Israel's Channel One news confirms that that is what the IDF says.

Times of Israel adds that "The Red Alert rocket warning system did not sound and the IDF said it was searching for the impact point that was believed to be somewhere near the border fence in the Eshkol Regional Council. Army Radio reported that Eshkol residents heard an explosion nearby. No injuries or damage were reported."

According to Haaretz: "A mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israeli territory on Tuesday, the first time since the end of the recent war between Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed. There was no word of injuries or damages. The shell exploded in an open area near the Gaza border, opposite a town in the Eshkol Regional Council, Channel 2 reported."

9-Apr-14: A second Wednesday attack from Hamas-controlled Gaza

Ynet says there was a mortar attack this evening (Wednesday), today's second assault on southern Israeli by the terrorist forces of the Gaza Strip.

An unnamed community in the Sha'ar Hanegev region (population: 6,000), close to Israel's Gaza border fence, was the hapless victim though fortunately it appears no one was injured. No warning siren was heard.

The rocket landed near the a swimming pool and caused damage to surrounding infrastructure. No injuries were reported and no alert siren was sounded. Local residents described hearing an immense blast which they said inspired quite a scare. Residents are requested to remain indoors for the meantime and refrain from reaching the blast site. [Ynet]

As with today's earlier rocket attack, yet another "Fell Short", there is zero media coverage at this time, other than in the handful of Israeli channels that focus on this ongoing war, as we do.

27-Oct-13: Mortar fire from Gaza this afternoon; why does the timing not surprise us?

Happy in Gaza [Image Source]

Two mortars from the Gaza Strip crashed into the Eshkol region of Israel's western Negev at about 1:30 p.m. today, Sunday. 

The good fortune of them landing in open fields meant, according to a report just now from the Israeli military, that no injuries or property damage are reported. This was of course, of course, not the desired outcome from the standpoint of the hatred-driven terrorists who risked their lives bring the mortars into firing range, preparing and priming them, and firing them off at considerable risk to their lives. They did this, as they have done thousands of times before, in order to kill them some Jews.

It's worth pausing for a moment to note the cynicism of those giving the order to fire, and those blessing the mortar-firing terrorists with prayers for successful kills. 

They know that Israel's parliamentary-based government is roiling today over a decision - certain to be rammed through later today by the office of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu against the opposition of more than 90% of ordinary Israeli citizens - to make yet another painful move for peace, in this case the release of phase 2 (out of four phases) of a list of 104 convicted and unrepentant murderers. 

These men will be handed over to the PA regime in Ramallah and to the Hamas thugocracy in Gaza, probably on Thursday, and will be lionized in traditional celebratory fashion: guns will be fired into the air, the arms of the returning convicts - many of them having now walked away from life-sentences in Israeli prisons - will be held aloft by arch-terrorists and their enablers, and plans will be spoken of for more terror, more killings, more attacks, more hatred, more violence.

If you were a middle manager in a Gaza-based terror gang, today would be a happy, happy day for you.

5-Jun-12: Incoming mortar fire from the Gazan terrorists

The steady increase in tensions on Israel's southern border with the Hamas regime of Gaza of the past few days (never, to judge from history, an accident) continues today. Mid-afternoon, a mortar shell was fired from the Hamas/Gaza side of the fence. It landed at an undisclosed location in the Eshkol region, causing a fire to break out but there is no damage no injuries have been reported. No indication at this stage whether the mortar contained phosphorous like those fired into the same region in January [report]. Phosphorous is packed into mortars when the people doing the shooting want to ignite a fire around the impact zone. Its use near civilians is prohibited under the Geneva Convention, and elicited an Israeli complaint to the UN in March with the expected response.