Islamic Jihad terrorists fire dozens of rockets at Israel in largest attack in two years

Dozens of rockets were fired at southern Israel on Wednesday by the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad, in the largest rocket attack on the Jewish state since Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012.

Gaza terrorists fired at least 60 rockets at southern Israel. The Israel Defense Forces responded to the attack by hitting two terror locations in northern and southern Gaza. “Code red” sirens sounded in Israeli communities where children were heading home from school.

“This is the biggest attack on Israel since the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense,” the IDF said on Twitter.

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While most of the rockets were reported to have fallen in open areas, at least one hit a residential area in Sderot, the Israeli police said. There have been no casualties reported.

The IDF reported that the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted three of the rockets.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying its “response has begun to the crimes of the occupation, the latest of which was the killing of three members” of the group during an airstrike on Tuesday, Ma’an News Agency reported. Islamic Jihad claims that it fired up to 90 rockets.

Commenting on the rocket barrage through his spokesman Ofir Gendelman’s Twitter account, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We will continue to strike those who want to harm us, we’ll act against them very forcefully.”

Last week the Israeli navy intercepted an arms shipment by Iran that was bound for Gaza. Israeli experts believe that Islamic Jihad was one of the intended recipients.