"Egypt mediating Israel-Hamas truce"= more than 100 rockets hitting south http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-mediating-israel-hamas-truce-as-more-than-100-rockets-hit-south-1.476815 …
A vehicle damaged by shrapnel in Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, November 11, 2012.Photo by Eliyahu Hershkowitz
The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted two rockets, one aimed at Be'er Sheva on Sunday, and one fired toward the Ashdod area the previous day.
Several buildings in the Sha'ar Hanegev Council were damaged in the barrage. A factory in the industrial zone of Sderot sustained a direct hit.
The Israel Defense Forces responded to the barrage of rocket fire with nine separate air strikes on the Gaza Strip, including one on Sunday morning. Five Palestinians were killed in the strikes.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday that if more broad action was needed in response to the attack, Israel would act.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the IDF will respond aggressively to any attacks carried out by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
"The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit with arms crossed when faced by attempts to hurt us," Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting, after more than 40 rockets struck Israel over the course of Sunday morning. "We are prepared to intensify our response."
Islamic Jihad, a smaller faction than Hamas which often operates independently, identified a casualty in the strike on Sunday as one of its own. The group said the dead man was a member of a rocket crew hit by an Israeli missile in Jabalya, northern Gaza Strip.
Schools in southern Israel's Eshkol and Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Councils, and in Sderot, were closed on Sunday. The Sapir College in Sderot, as well municipal businesses were closed, as well.
Saturday's rocket barrage followed an earlier anti-tank missile attack on an IDF jeep near the border with Gaza, which wounded four soldiers. The IDF responded to the jeep attack with shelling on the Gaza Strip in which at least four Palestinians were killed and over 36 wounded.
