JPost.AF strike kills two Gaza militants as Qassams pound southern Israel

By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent

The Israel Air Force struck a car east of Gaza City on Wednesday, killing two Palestinian militants and critically wounding a child, Palestinian medics said, as Qassam rocket fire continued to pound southern Israel.
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired at least 21 Qassam rockets at southern Israel on Wednesday, causing damage to local kibbutzim but no injuries.
Israel Police said 25 Qassams were fired, while the army said 21 were launched and 11 were identified to have hit inside Israel.
The rockets struck the Sderot area and south of the port city of Ashkelon, and several people were treated for shock in Sderot.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for part of the barrage, saying it was in response to Wednesday's killing of the group's top West Bank commander during an Israel Defense Forces operation near Jenin.
The barrage came a day after at least 10 people were hurt when Palestinian militants launched a barrage of Qassam rockets and mortar shells at Israel in a day of fierce fighting in Gaza.
The father of a 5-year-old girl hurt after a Qassam hit their neighbor's Sderot home Tuesday vowed his family will not return to the city that has been repeatedly hit by rockets and mortar shells.
The girl, Lior Ben-Shimol, was at her neighbor's house playing with their children when the attack occurred. Her father and younger brother were in their adjacent home. "Suddenly my wife called me, telling me there was a Color Red alert and that she does not know where to take cover," the girl's father, Yaron Ben-Shimol said, referring to the siren informing residents of an incoming rocket attack. "A second later I heard an explosion and saw a Qassam had hit the neighbor's house."
'I saw my daughter drenched in blood'
At the moment of impact, the girl had been playing with the neighbors' children aged 3 and 7, one of whom was also hurt. "I ran to the neighbor's house and saw my daughter come to me drenched in blood," Ben-Shimol recounted.
He said his daughter had already been given psychological help to cope with the stress of living under constant attack.
Ben-Shimol's father, Haim, is the chief of the Magen David Adom ambulance service in Sderot.
The father of the other child hurt in the attack, Shlomi Argon, was at work when the attack took place. "They called me telling me my home was hit," he said, his voice full of emotion, while tightly holding his younger son in his hands at the Barzilai Medical Center's emergency room in Ashkelon. The child was covered with smears of blood.
Unlike his neighbor, Argon vowed to stay in Sderot despite the attack.
Israel Defense Forces Tuesday counted 24 Qassam rockets fired by Gazan militants at the western Negev, seven of which were located. In addition, 24 mortar shells were fired. A Grad Katyusha rocket struck near a residential area in Ashkelon and two women were treated for shock.
In all, the hospital treated five people for shrapnel wounds, four for shock and another who was hurt falling down while trying to take cover during an attack.
In Sderot, three rockets landed in the city's urban area and the Color Red siren was sounded 14 times. Time and again, local residents scrambled for cover. Toward nightfall, a rocket hit a power line and the city's resident remained in the dark until it was fixed.
"The center treating people for shock remained open thanks to a generator," Dr. Adrianna Katz, who is charged with managing the facility, said. "We treated 20 people Tuesday who came to receive treatment. The center will remain open all night to treat people for shock."
haaretz.com