Gaza Terrorists Launch Rockets, Try to Infiltrate Israel Over the Weekend

JERUSALEM, Israel - Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip on Saturday launched three rockets into southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome Missile defense system.

Shrapnel from the third rocket landed in the yard of a home in Sderot, causing damage. No one was injured by the shrapnel but several people were treated for hysteria and minor injuries sustained while running to bomb shelters.

3 rockets were fired from #Gaza at #Israel, 2 of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defense System.

This is the 2nd consecutive night rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israeli civilians.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 17, 2019

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday also stopped a Gaza terror cell from infiltrating Israel's southern border. The IDF said the terrorists were armed with rifles.  

An IDF tank and helicopter fired on the terror cell, eliminating them.

Last night, our soldiers monitoring Israel's security fence with #Gaza identified this terrorist squad armed with rifles attempting to infiltrate into #Israel.

In the time it takes to watch this video, our troops had already arrived at the scene in order to stop the terrorists. pic.twitter.com/gJcQNoPM2V

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 18, 2019

Saturday night's rocket fire was the second consecutive day that Palestinian terrorists sent missiles flying towards the Jewish state.

On Friday night, terrorists fired at least one rocket into Israel which was intercepted by the Iron Dome. No injuries or damage were reported.

In response, the IDF struck two underground Hamas targets.

"The attack was carried out in response to the rocket fire launched from the Gaza Strip earlier this night," read a statement released by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, adding that "the IDF will continue to work against attempts to harm Israeli civilians and considers the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for everything that is done in and that comes out of the Gaza Strip."

Hamas spokesman Fazi Barhoum said on Saturday morning that "the Israeli strike is a message of escalation and aggression against the Gaza Strip in an attempt to steer attention from brave acts by Palestinians in the West Bank."

Those "brave acts" refer to a car-ramming attack near Israel's Gush Etzion, which left two Israeli teens injured.

The rocket fire over the weekend comes at a time when Israel has seen increased infiltration attempts into the country. In the past two weeks, six armed Palestinian terrorists were able to sneak into Israel. They were discovered by the IDF and were killed.