Direct Hit On Synagogue In Israel By Hamas Rockets, Injuries Reported
In what has already been a day of heavy rocket fire raining upon Israel, a synagogue in Asher, Israel, suffered a direct hit on Friday by a Hamas rocket fired from Gaza. Innocent civilians have been injured.
A massive explosion was reported by Israel National News at the site of the synagogue, which caused “considerable damage.” Paramedics rushed to the scene where three people were treated, then taken to area hospitals.
A 40-year-old woman suffered injuries to her torso. Shrapnel from the explosion caused injuries to the extremities of two men, ages 25 and 26.
Others on the scene at the synagogue were treated for shock.
There are no reports of any Israeli soldiers in the synagogue. It is simply a house of worship for Jewish civilians in Israel. The attack occurred just before evening prayers ahead of the Jewish Sabbath, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an attack which clearly targets innocent civilians.
Israel has been often blamed in the media for attacking mosques. However, their strikes occur in response to intelligence that Hamas militants are hiding within the mosques. Very different tactics are used by the two sides in the conflict.
The rocket attack on the Israeli synagogue comes during a day of heavy fire by Hamas militants. By 4 pm local time on Friday, August 22, more than 50 rockets had been fired into Israel, mostly into the southern parts of Israel, according to Jews News. Only seven were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. On Thursday, more than 100 rockets were fired into Israel.
Earlier in the day, a rocket fired from Gaza barely missed a packed kindergarten. Fortunately in that attack, there were no injuries reported, and all of the children and teachers were in safe areas. Again, there are no reports of any IDF soldiers being in the kindergarten.
Haaretz reports that a rocket hit a Be’er Sheva parking lot just after noon on Friday, causing moderate injuries to a 54-year-old man.
This latest barrage of rocket attacks against Israel comes on the heels of the admission on Wednesday by senior Hamas sheikh Saleh Arouri that Hamas was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenage boys. As The Inquisitr has reported, that event was the catalyst for the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Hamas official stated that he did not expect the event to “ignite [such] a large battle.”
What else did they possibly expect? For civilizations who value life, who do not intentionally place innocent children and civilians in harm’s way by using them as human shields, an attack on the children is an attack on the whole. Even though Israel does not embed soldiers within or fire weapons from synagogues and kindergartens, those places remain targets for Hamas militants. Where is the outcry from the international community about this injustice?
[images via Arutz Shiva and Ilanan Curiel/Jews News]
