Over 40 Israelis were injured on Tuesday early afternoon when a new barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip hit Ashdod and Ashkelon, with a number of buildings receiving direct hits, including at least one home and a school. At least 40 rockets were launched from Gaza within one minute and over 300 rockets have struck Israel since Monday. Four of those injured are members of the same family, with the father, 40, in serious to moderate condition, and the mother, 39, in moderate condition. The children are in light condition. They were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Another Israeli was seriously injured, another was moderately injured, and the rest were lightly injured. Two buildings in Ashdod and six buildings in Ashkelon suffered direct hits.

In a rare acknowledgment, the IDF stated on Sunday night that it struck Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror targets in Syria in response to the barrage of rocket strikes on Israel from the PIJ group in the Gaza Strip. “IDF fighter jets struck terror sites belonging to the PIJ terror group south of Damascus in Syria, as well as dozens of PIJ sites throughout the Gaza Strip,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement that the airstrikes on Damascus killed two of its members, identifying them as Salim Salim, 24, and Ziad Mansour, 23. It did not disclose their nationalities or elaborate on their roles. It vowed to respond to the deaths of its members. Media reports on Monday morning said that the death toll from the Israeli strikes in Syria rose to six from the two reported on Sunday night.

As pundits predict how Iran is likely to retaliate to the American strike that killed Soleimani, Israeli media commences with a male-dominated chorus of high-fives and chest-bumps