Heavy rocket barrage over Tel Aviv. One fatality in Rishon Lezion

Ramat Gan and Rishon Lezion took direct hits in the early afternoon of Saturday, May 15.. In Ramat Gan a man of 50 was killed. From midday, Tel Aviv-Jaffa came under heavy rocket salvos, followed by interceptions over Modiin and Ben Shemen (midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem). Further rounds continued against Ashdod, Holon, Bat Yam, Rishon Lezion, Givatayim, Taibeh, Ashkelon and Yavneh.   Samaria (N. East Bank) had its first rocket explosions.

A 12-story tower block housing the Associated Press and the Al Jazeera broadcaster’s offices in Gaza City was knocked down by Israel airborne missiles. The building was evacuated after an IDF warning signal. Hamas: “Tel Aviv will shake for this! “
DEBKAfile reported earlier:

Rockets hit Beersheba, Ashdod after all-night barrage. First police crackdown on Arab rioters

Palestinian rockets pounded Israel for the sixth nigh. Early Saturday, May 15, Beersheba and Ofakim took direct hits to buildings while Ashdod and Ashkelon were battered without pause followed by Lachish and Gan Yavne. Extensive damage was caused to homes and buildings, but no casualties. (Photo: Iron Dome in action.)

The iDF continued to strike Palestinian targets during Friday night without pause, including three underground rocket launchers operating on timers from northern Gaza and Hamas regional military intelligence HQ. The Palestinians report that an Israeli air strike hit a house in Gaza city killed seven civilians including children.

Arab riots which swept through mixed Israeli towns in the past week started to abate as the police began cracking down on troublemakers on Friday night. Tension remains high. In one incident a firebomb was tossed into a Jaffa home and injured an Arab child. Police are investigating. In another, the Acre theater was torched. Four rioters were seriously injured in the Arab town of Kafr Kanna Friday night during clashes with police when they tried to block the arrest of a senior Islamic Movement leader, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, for taking part in violent outbreaks in the town.

Across the West Bank, 7 Palestinians were killed in several violent clashes with Isreli security forces, after Hamas called on them to “set fire to the ground under the occupation’s feet.”  

In the north, three rockets launched from the Syrian side of the border exploded harmlessly – two on empty ground in the southern Golan and one on Syrian soil. And further west, dozens of Lebanese set fire to the border fence before breaking through into Israel. They were forced to retreat by IDF machine gun and tank fire, killing one of the intruders and injuring another.

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