Despite ongoing IDF operations in the northern Gaza Strip, a Kassam rocket landed Tuesday evening in Ashkelon proper - the first time the city center has witnessed such an attack. No one was wounded in the attack, despite the fact that the rocket hit a school in a populated area in the south of the city. Children playing soccer outside the ORT-Ronson High School on Rehov Ben Zvi were thrown back by the force of the explosion, witnesses reported, but were unharmed. The school suffered some damage.
Security officials described the Kassam as "upgraded," featuring two engines. Police Cmdr. Uri Barlev said that security forces had seen this type of rocket in the past. "This type of missile has landed in other places," he said.
Hamas' military wing, Izzadin al-Kassam, claimed responsibility for the attack, adding that the rocket had been upgraded to achieve a range of over 15 kilometers. Security officials reported that the rocket was launched from the open territory between the former northern Gaza settlements of Nisanit and Dugit.
The IDF, however, said that the rocket was an ordinary Kassam.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded to the attack by calling it, "an escalation of hostilities like none other."
He said that Israel would not remain silent, and that Hamas would be the first to feel the Israeli response, vowing "far-reaching consequences," for the missile attack.
In response to the attack, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to step up the speed and intensity of Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, launched last Wednesday in an effort to retrieve Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
"We intend to achieve the goals of our operations in Gaza," Peretz said, referring to stopping Kassam rocket fire as well as retrieving the kidnapped IDF soldier.
Ashkelon mayor Roni Mehatzri said that Ashkelon residents had "time to think, to decide what to do."
Some experts speculated on the timing of the attack, saying that the terror groups were interested in establishing a deterrent before Israel expands its military incursion into the Gaza Strip.
Kassams have landed in Ashkelon's periphery, particularly in the industrial zone. On June 14, a rocket has struck a site described as a "strategic installation."
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.