Palestinian Rockets Kill Several Arab Israelis, Including 7-Year-Old Girl

Palestinian terrorists killed two Arab Israelis, a woman in her forties and a seven-year-old girl, in the mixed Jewish and Arab city of Lod, Israel, on Tuesday as a rocket that penetrated the Iron Dome defensive umbrella struck a car and a home.

Terrorist groups fired hundreds of rockets at Tel Aviv and other cities on Tuesday evening, forcing families to rush into bomb shelters. Many of the rockets were intercepted, but some managed to evade the missile defense system, causing casualties.

The Times of Israel reported:

In Lod, a city of both Arab and Jewish residents that has been the scene of some of the worst rioting in recent days, a rocket hit a home and a car, killing two people, police said. It brought the death toll in Israel to five since the start of hostilities on Monday.

Police said a woman in her 40s was declared dead at the scene and a second person died after being taken to hospital. Hebrew media reports said she was a seven-year-old girl.

A third person was seriously wounded in the direct hit.

Lod Mayor Yair Revivo said the dead were from the Arab community. “Hamas missiles do not differentiate between Jews and Arabs,” Revivo said.

It was not clear whether the two victims were related. A 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old daughter, also apparently Arabs, were also killed in a separate rocket attack in Lod.

Lod was under a state of emergency due to a “progrom” carried out by Arab residents against Jews, including the burning of synagogues. Tensions between the two communities have been high since Palestinians fomented riots in Jerusalem last week. Arabs in Lod began rioting as well, and one Arab man was shot and killed in Lod in what police have called a hate crime.

By Joel B. Pollack