Footage shows rocket slamming into Israeli street, just meters from gas station
Dramatic footage showed the moment a rocket fired from Gaza slammed into an Israeli street on Sunday, just meters from a gas station and seconds after motorists leapt from their vehicles as the siren sounded.
The footage taken from security cameras in the southern town of Netivot showed the moment the sirens started to wail, telling residents they had just 15 seconds to seek cover.
The cameras show drivers stopping their cars and running to crouch by a nearby wall for protection as the alert sounded.
The rocket then hits the street only a few meters away from one of the stopped cars and just outside a gas station.
Police sappers arrived on the scene and began work to dispose of the exploded missile.
There were no injuries reported in the attack, which came during renewed rocket fire from Gaza on border communities and southern cities after a brief lull earlier in the day.
תיעוד: רגע פגיעת הרקטה בנתיבות@Itsik_zuarets (צילום: תחנת הדלק זגורי) pic.twitter.com/FPKKdsyqIv
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 16, 2021
An 8-month-old baby was treated at Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center for light injuries sustained while his mother ran with him for shelter during the barrage.
The rocket fire came as Israel’s security cabinet, the committee of ministers legally empowered to make war decisions, met to discuss the next steps in the Gaza operation.
Hebrew media reports suggested some ministers planned to urge a quick end to the fighting with many of the IDF’s military objectives achieved and amid growing international pressure.
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fired over 2,500 rockets at Israel since the outbreak of fighting on Monday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Ten Israelis, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, have been killed in the rocket fire, and hundreds have been injured.
The Palestinian toll from the fighting reached 181 on Sunday, including dozens of children, with over 1,000 wounded, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups have confirmed 20 deaths in their ranks, though Israel says that number is much higher and that dozens of those killed were terrorists. In addition, the IDF says some deaths were caused by errant rockets fired at Israel which fell short of their targets and landed in the Strip.