The sirens sounded at about 3:45AM on Wednesday morning, 8 Marcheshvan in Beersheva, the capital of the Negev, sending tens of thousands of men, women and children in the city running to bomb shelters and safe rooms.

Police report a home sustained a direct hit but B’chasdei Hashem a woman and her three children had evacuated safely moments before and there were no fatalities or injuries.

However, the home was destroyed and debris was scattered throughout the street, damaging parked cars and adjacent structures. Six persons were treated for hysteria.

A rocket fired from #Gaza hit the bedrooms of 3 Israeli children last night. Their mother saved them as she rushed them from their beds to a bomb shelter in a matter of seconds. pic.twitter.com/lYmq28dnCm

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 17, 2018

Hamas terrorists have fired from Gaza last night a rocket that hit a house in Be'er Sheva and demolished most of it. The mother rushed her kids to a bomb sheltets and saved their lives. Hamas tried to kill them all. Now the IDF is striking back at Hamas terror targets in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/tZfx1W5cpf

— Ofir Gendelman (@ofirgendelman) October 17, 2018

Next-door neighbor Segev Naveh said he did not hear the warning sirens and was awoken by the massive blast.

“It was very scary,” he said. “If it was falling on my house I would be dead for sure.”

The IDF Spokesman Unit reported a second launch from Gaza, and that rocket landed in the sea.

ROCKET ATTACK THWARTED: As a terrorist squad in #Gaza attempted to launch rockets at #Israel, IDF aircraft struck them before they fired. pic.twitter.com/xbkj2BbSQA

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 17, 2018

RAW FOOTAGE: Terrorists in #Gaza attempting to shoot more rockets into #Israel until we stopped them. Watch until the end. pic.twitter.com/L0VYJD5nEc

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 17, 2018

Photo of the floor of a child’s bedroom in Israel hit by a rocket from Gaza hours ago. The child survived physically by escaping to the bomb shelter in time, but it is the trauma of last night that will stay with the family forever. This is terror. pic.twitter.com/fcu9a5Rpkb

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 17, 2018

The BeerSheva residential home hit tonight by a Gaza rocket; not much is left; family’s life literally saved by mother’s decision to run for shelter with her children pic.twitter.com/crD61247b9

— Yiftah Curiel (@yiftahc) October 17, 2018

Beersheva’s mayor announced schools will remain closed on Wednesday. Officials in the Ashkelon Coast and S’dot Negev Regional Council announced schools will remain closed in Yad Mordechai, Chofim, Shikma, and other areas. In the Ashkelon Coast council, kindergartens and daycare centers will operate beginning at 10:00AM. In the S’dot Negev council, kindergartens, daycare centers and all schools have been canceled, along with all afternoon programs and other official council activities for the children.

IDF jets pounded Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1 terrorist.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said 20 Hamas targets were struck, including tunnels, weapon workshops and naval shafts. The military released video showing militants preparing to fire another rocket toward Israel before they were targeted.

We destroyed another #Hamas cross-border tunnel from #Gaza; the 2nd one in 2 weeks. Hamas fires rockets above ground, digs tunnels underground, & carries out violent riots on ground – TARGETING #CIVILIANS. We struck 20+ Hamas targets in Gaza – TARGETING #TERROR. pic.twitter.com/KrKmtLVl1A

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) October 17, 2018

In a rare move, the “joint coordination room of resistance factions,” which includes Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terror groups, issued a statement distancing themselves from the rocket fire.

“We reject all irresponsible attempts that try to change the direction and sabotage the Egyptian efforts, including the overnight firing of the rocket,” they said. “At the same time, we emphasize we are ready to confront the Israeli aggression.”

The head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, is scheduled to visit Gaza this week to renew cease-fire talks. A team of Egyptian security officials was already on its way to try and calm things down.

Conricus, however, rejected the terrorist’s denials, saying the rocket that struck Beersheba was a mid-range, locally produced weapon that was in the possession of only two groups: Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israel holds Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from the territory it controls.

“Israel will not stand by while our people are under attack, and the world must know that,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said as he hosted Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. Mideast envoy. “Hamas continues to hold the people of Gaza hostage, bringing them destruction and suffering. So long as the missiles and the provocation continue, there is no chance of easing the suffering of the people of Gaza.”

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced the time has come to deliver a “heavy blow” to Hamas in response to the violence at the border and incendiary devices sent over the fence into Israel.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was to hold a high-level security briefing including Defense Minister Lieberman, the Deputy IDF Chief of Staff, the National Security Advisor, head of the Shin Bet and senior commanders. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott is on his way back home from New York, where he cut his visit short in light of the escalation in attacks from Gaza.

The attached video, from Arab sources, claims to show the terror cell that was targeted earlier while the terrorists were trying to launch another rocket from Gaza into Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)