"Israeli" killed, 14 settlers wounded, 5 seriously

One ‘Israeli' was killed and fourteen others were wounded by a Palestinian Grad missile which exploded near a construction site in the coastal town of Ashkelon.

Most of the victims were construction workers from the Galilee village of Manda and the Bedouin town of Rahat. Five were considered in serious condition, four sustained moderate wounds, and five suffered light injuries.

The man who was killed was named as 27-year-old construction worker Hani al Mahdi, from the Bedouin village of Aroer.

Curious onlookers gathered at the scene despite the Home Front Command's directive to avoid loitering in groups outdoors.

At least 40 rockets have been fired into ‘Israel' since Monday morning - nine of which hit Ashkelon, five struck Sderot and four others which struck various towns in the western Negev. One home in Sderot sustained a direct hit. Channel 2 reported that the residents of the home have been treated for shock.

"I'm standing next to the body," Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin told ‘Israel' Radio by telephone, on the third day of an ‘Israeli' air offensive in the Gaza Strip. "To my great regret, we have a fatality. He was killed."

Sirens wailed intermittently on Monday morning in Ashkelon as television crews captured footage of panicked residents seeking cover from the incoming projectiles.

On Sunday, Gaza-based Palestinians launched a barrage of at least 40 rockets at the western Negev on Sunday, as the ‘Israel' Air Force continued to bomb targets in the Strip.

Two Katyusha rockets, with a diameter of 122 mm, exploded near Ashdod on Sunday. More than 30 kilometers from Gaza, this was the deepest into ‘Israel' a Palestinian rocket has yet to strike.

The Katyushas, which are the most improved versions of the Palestinian rockets, have a range of up to 40 kilometers. The particular rockets that struck on Sunday traveled 37 and 35 kilometers.