Man injured in Ashkelon rocket attack dies from wounds

Doctors at Barzilai unable to save man injured in residential area; 4 further people wounded as South pounded by 35 projectiles from Gaza in total; extensive damage reported in Ashdod as rocket hit school.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, LAHAV HARKOV, TOVAH LAZAROFF
AShkelon Gaza rockets cars 311 R (photo credit: REUTERS/ Nir Elias )
AShkelon Gaza rockets cars 311 R
(photo credit: REUTERS/ Nir Elias )
A man was killed and four people were wounded when southern Israel was bombarded with long-range Grad rockets fired by Islamic Jihad from Gaza on Saturday.
The rocket casualty was later named as Moshe Ami, 56, of Ashkelon. Ami was on his way home to his family when the air raid siren went off. He left his vehicle and ran for cover, but was mortally injured by flying shrapnel from the rocket fired at a residential neighborhood in Ashkelon. He was rushed to the Barzilai Medical Center in the city, but doctors were unable to save his life. Ami was able to answer a call from his concerned wife and tell her that he had been injured before being evacuated to hospital.
Security chiefs searched for a way to contain the situation on Saturday, as the Air Force went into action to strike terror cells preparing rockets for launch in northern and southern Gaza.
IDF confirmed killing 10 Islamic Jihad members on Saturday. It struck four terror targets in Gaza between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. The targets included a terror cell in southern Gaza planning to fire a projectile, a terrorist planning a rocket strike, and two rocket launch sites in northern Gaza. An additional terrorist in southern Gaza planning a rocket attack was also struck from the air on Saturday night. Furthermore, a cell in northern Gaza was also hit by the Air Force.
Some 200,000 school children will stay at home as classes in Ashdod, Beersheba and Kiryat Malachi were canceled by local officials, and the IDF Home Front Command asked people who live within 40 kilometers of the Gaza Strip to stay near structures protected against rockets.