Over 41 people were injured on Tuesday after rockets, fired from the Gaza Strip, slammed into a number of homes in Ashkelon and Ashdod in Southern Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Four of the injured were members of the same family.
The four were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital. Authorities said that the father, 40, was in moderate-to-serious condition and suffering from injuries to his head. The mother, 39, was in moderate condition and the children suffered from light injuries.
Of those injured on Tuesday, five were children, 26 were in light condition, 13 were suffering from anxiety, one person was moderately injured and another person was seriously injured.
Under orders from the IDF Home Front Command, local councils – within a 40 kilometer radius of the Gaza Strip – shut schools on Tuesday and banned large public gatherings. Under the restrictions, only 10 people can gather outside and 50 inside, as long as there is a bomb shelter nearby that can accommodate all participants.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Avi Amar who was one of the first responders at the scene of one of the rocket attacks said: “A rocket hit a house directly and three people suffered minor injuries from being struck by pieces of shrapnel. Together with other volunteers from United Hatzalah I treated them for their injuries. Miraculously, their injuries were not more serious.”
United Hatzalah volunteers treated two women in critical condition and one woman in serious condition as a result of separate rocket attacks in Ashkelon.
United Hatzalah Chief Paramedic Elad Becher treated the injured at the scene of the first strike and said: “This was a very complex situation. We treated a woman in critical condition and another in serious condition after a rocket struck a home in Ashkelon. there was a lot of damage and debris and the injured needed to be extricated from the debris before we could treat them. The woman in critical condition was suffering from severe injuries to her lower body. ”
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Michael Rashid treated a woman in her 70s in a separate incident after a rocket hit her home. “The woman was in critical condition after her home suffered a direct hit. Together with other EMS personnel, I treated her for her injuries and she was then taken to the hospital. United Hatzalah’s Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit is active at the scene and providing emotional and psychological first aid to a number of people suffering from anxiety and shock.”
Vice President of Operations for United Hatzalah Paramedic Dov Maisel reported from Ashkelon, “We are being dispatched from location to location wherever rockets are falling and treating the injured together with local United Hatzalah volunteers who live in close proximity to the landing sites. Our Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit is also being dispatched and is very active and currently treating a number of people suffering from emotional or psychological shock and anxiety due to the rocket fire.”
