Sirens Blare in Israel as Rocket Attacks Continue

iStock/Thinkstock(JERUSALEM) — Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv Wednesday morning as Israel’s anti-missile system, the Iron Dome, intercepted Palestinian rockets in the skies above the city.

Militants in the Gaza Strip have launched rockets at major cities across Israel, including their farthest target yet — more than 70 miles from Gaza.

Israel’s air force pounded Gaza overnight, targeting approximately 160 militant sites, 118 of which the military said were concealed rocket launching sites.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, adding that Kerry plans to speak with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas within the next 24 hours.

“They’ve been discussing the circumstances on the ground. Certainly he commended him for his call for restraint this weekend when he was meeting with his cabinet and they’re discussing a path forward,” Psaki said about Kerry’s call with Netanyahu.

“I think certainly Prime Minister Netanyahu is concerned about the threat that the rockets from Hamas pose to his own people. He’s spoken about that publicly. The secretary is concerned as well. And so they discussed that and they’ve had ongoing discussions,” she added.

Meanwhile, in related news, the Israeli government is “rerouting aircraft” to routes that approach Ben Gurion Airport from the north and east in order to keep commercial jets away from the flight paths of any missiles that might be fired from Gaza toward Tel Aviv, a senior US official told ABC News.

Israel has also designated certain key air routes off limits to commercial planes in order to reserve them for Israeli Air Force jets that might need to be deployed.

“They’ve closed off a couple of air routes so they can have clearer access for fighter aircraft if the need arises,” the official said.


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