Iran-backed Terrorists Fire 35 Rockets at Southern Israel
From The Israel Project. [Excerpt]

On Wed. morning (Nov. 5), Iran-backed Hamas terrorists in Gaza fired 35 Qassam rockets at Israeli civilians in cities and communities in southern Israel. Two of the Qassams hit Ashkelon, a port city about nine miles (15 km) from Gaza; two women and a 13-year-old girl were treated for shock, but no other injuries were reported.

The attack wasn’t the first time Hamas breached the June 19 ceasefire with Israel; Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist groups in Gaza have fired more than 50 rockets and mortars at Israel since the ceasefire began. Additionally, rockets and mortar fire have killed 24 Israelis and wounded more than 1,000 others since 2001, when Palestinian terrorists began firing rockets at Israel. The attacks have also caused thousands of Israelis to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Hamas’s latest rocket barrage followed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation in Gaza Tues. night (Nov. 4) aimed at destroying a tunnel terrorists were digging just 820 feet (250 meters) from the Israel-Gaza border to abduct Israeli soldiers. During the operation and a subsequent Israeli air strike, six Palestinian terrorists were killed and four IDF soldiers were wounded.

An IDF spokesman stressed that the operation was limited and carried out specifically to remove the immediate threat the tunnel posed to IDF personnel inside Israel. There was no intention, he said, to disrupt the ceasefire which has held for the most part since it began, but emphasized that the construction of the tunnel so close to the border was “a blatant violation of the calm…The tunnel we uncovered was ready for imminent use, forcing us to act immediately.”

Iran-backed terrorists have fired more than 2,700 rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilians in 2008 alone, and more than 5,800 since Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza in August 2005.

Iran provides $20 million - $30 million annually to Hamas in weapons and training.