Post date: Nov 18, 2012 12:51:20 PM
Rockets from Gaza hit southern Israel, sending residents running for shelter in the city of Ashkelon. Israel allows transfer of medical supplies and food into the strip.
ASHKELON, ISRAEL (NOVEMBER 18, 2012) (REUTERS) - Palestinian rocket fired into Israel hit a residential building in the southern city of Ashkelon on Sunday (November 18), and an earlier salvo wounded two people in a house in the coastal city, police said.
The exchange of fire came as Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip from air and sea for a fifth straight day, preparing for a possible ground invasion though Egypt saw "some indications" of a truce ahead.The salvo on Ashkelon came as Israeli lawmaker and former Defence Minister Amir Peretz was visiting the area. He had to take cover when the air raid siren sounded.
Earlier on Sunday, Gaza's Hamas militants said they launched two Iranian-designedFajr-5 rockets at Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial capital, which has come under several such salvoes since cross-border fighting with the Palestinian enclave erupted on Wednesday (November 14).
Elsewhere, In Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, Israel allowed the entry of trucks loaded with medical supplies and food into the Palestinian territory.
"Despite the fact that over 800 mortars, rockets and missiles, have been fired at Israelover the last four days, the state of Israel maintains its commitment to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Today we are facilitating the entry of over a hundred trucks worth of medical supplies and food to the civilian population of Gaza," said Israeli Defence Ministry spokesperson, Josh Hantman.
Forty-nine Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 14 children, have been killed in Israel's raids, Palestinian officials said. More than 500 rockets fired from Gazahave hit Israel, killing three people and injuring dozens.
Israel unleashed intensive air strikes on Wednesday, killing the commander of theHamas Islamist group that governs Gaza and spurns peace with the Jewish state.Israel's declared goal is to deplete Gaza arsenals and press Hamas into stopping cross-border rocket fire that has plagued Israeli border towns for years.
Israel's operation has drawn Western support for what U.S. and European leaders have called Israel's right to self-defence, but there was also a growing number of calls from world leaders to seek an end to the violence.