(JTA) — Fifty-eight Israelis were injured during the wave of rocket attacks fired by terror groups from Gaza this week. Thirty-four Palestinians, most of them reported to be members of Islamic Jihad and other Gaza terror groups, were killed in retaliatory strikes.
The attacks cost the Israeli economy $315 million and three homes were directly hit, the Consulate General of Israel in New York said in a statement Thursday.
After the Israel Defense Forces killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad senior commanders — Baha Abu al-Ata and Rasmi Abu Malhous — in targeted airstrikes, a total of 450 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning’s ceasefire.
One of the rockets hit an an assisted-living facility in the southern Israel city of Ashkelon, injuring a woman in her 70s. Israel retaliated in an operation it called Operation Black Belt.
The initial airstrike into Gaza also killed at least eight members of Malhous’ family. BBC reported that 111 Palestinians were injured in the exchange of fire.
“Israel is not interested in an escalation, and quiet will be met with quiet. However, Israel will take all necessary steps to protect its citizens and will not tolerate attacks by terrorist organizations that target Israeli civilians,” the consulate’s statement added.
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