Classes canceled, trains closed in southern Israel as 17 rockets fired from Gaza

17 rockets were fired at Israel's south, of which three were intercepted, during overnight hours and train stations in Sderot, Ofakim, Netivot and other Gaza border communities were closed on Monday.

NOVEMBER 11, 2018 23:31

Updated: NOVEMBER 12, 2018 11:28

A school in Sderot closed under army instructions, November 12th, 2018 (photo credit: JACK GUEZ / AFP) — A school in Sderot closed under army instructions, November 12th, 2018

(photo credit: JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Classes were canceled for Monday morning in Gaza border communities as five volleys of at least three rockets and other projectiles were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

The IDF said early Monday morning 17 rockets were fired at Israel's south, of which three were intercepted, during overnight hours and train stations in Sderot, Ofakim, Netivot and other Gaza border communities were closed on Monday.

Gadi Yarkoni, head of the Eshkol Regional Council, said the IDF did not discuss the closures with his office before making the decision.

"The IDF cancelled classes here, and also stopped work in the area" he told Army Radio on Monday morning, saying a "great tragedy" befell Israel with the death of Lt. Col. M. during the operation. He said the decision "caught him by surprise" as he discovered the decision via media channels and not from the IDF itself.

"It would have been nice [for the army] to discuss with us and hear our opinion," he said, "but at the end of the day those who make the decisions are the IDF."

Yarkoni called on residents of Gaza border communities to "continue on" and said he supports "any path" that minimizes the pain for Israelis. "If there's a possibility of ceasefire, I support it," he said.

Rocket sirens were heard at least five times across southern Israel Sunday night as the IDF carried out a Gaza operation, killing a senior Hamas member.

Residents in the Israeli communities surrounding the southern Gaza Strip were warned to stay close to shelter for further notice following the security incident, with two rounds of incoming rocket sirens activated in the communities.

Rocket sirens were sounded near the border communities of Avshalom, Dekel, Yevul, Yated, Pri Gan, Sde Avraham, Shlomit and Shlomzion.

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Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman held a security assessment at the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv along with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the head of the Shin Bet security service and other senior officials in the defense establishment, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his trip to Paris marking 100 years since the end of World War 1 to return to Israel in light of the situation.

The flight paths into and out of Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport were also altered following the events in Gaza.

Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.