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![Ashkelon rocket damage](https://www.jewishpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Ashkelon-rocket-fire-696x464.jpg)
A barrage of some 20 rockets were fired Wednesday afternoon at Be’er Sheva and the surrounding Jewish and Bedouin communities in the central Negev, as well as at the Gaza Envelope.
A 60-year-old man suffered minor shrapnel wounds, and a factory in the Gaza Envelope area was damaged.
But as the Iron Dome aerial defense system worked to intercept the incoming rocket fire from the south, Israelis in the north likewise were forced to race to their bomb shelters.
Hezbollah terrorists fired 16 rockets into northern Israeli territory at exactly the same time that Hamas in Gaza launched its massive rocket barrage at southern Israel.
There may be no formal agreement to coordinate attacks, but Wednesday’s apparently coordinated barrage was not the first time since Oct. 7 that Israelis at both ends of the country have been forced to race for shelter.
IDF Battles Hezbollah, But Minimizes Response
The IDF got started in the north early Wednesday morning, with IDF tanks and artillery striking several locations in Lebanon and IDF aircraft struck a military command center and military infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
During the afternoon, launches were identified from Lebanon as rockets and mortar shells flew towards an IDF post adjacent to Arab al-Aramshe, as well as an IDF post around Mount Hermon.
IDF tanks and artillery attacked the sources of the rocket fire, along with several other targets. “Aircraft attacked an operational headquarters and terrorist infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah,” the IDF said.
The aforementioned barrage of some 16 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon late in the afternoon. The IDF attacked the sites from which the rockets were launched.
The attacks from Lebanon came after Israel’s Arrow extra-atmospheric aerial defense system intercepted a surface-to-surface (STS) missile aimed at Eilat by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
“The interception took place in the Red Sea and the missile did not enter Israeli territory or pose a threat to Israeli civilians,” the IDF said in a statement.