Hamas Misfire Falls Short, Kills 10, 9 Children; 10 Soldiers Die in Last 24-hours

A missile fired by Hamas fell short and landed in a Gaza City park on Monday, killing ten people including nine children. A Hamas spokesman charged that the blast, which also hit Shifa Hospital, was caused by Israeli shelling. 46 were wounded in the incident. Meanwhile, four Israeli soldiers died in a mortar attack near the Gaza border on Monday afternoon and six others were wounded. In another incident, five soldiers died when Hamas terrorists infiltrated into Israel through a tunnel at the community of Nahal Oz. Ten Hamas gunmen attacked a group of soldiers from the Engineering Corps, killing one. Eight of the attackers were killed in a gunfight and the other two surrendered. Israel began the day observing a “sort-of-ceasefire” in which the orders were to return but not initiate fire. Following a morning of rocket launches from Gaza, the army was ordered to resume full operations. It listed among the day’s targets a munitions factory and a number of rocket launchers. 23 Palestinians reportedly died in 150 Israeli strikes overnight. Altogether, ten Israeli soldiers were killed in incidents on Monday. The home of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyyeh was bombed but was empty at the time.