Palestinian terrorists on Wednesday morning fired over 30 Kassam and Grad rockets from the Gaza Strip at Ashkelon and the western Negev, prompting Israel to hold up a shipment of aid scheduled to pass through to the Strip on Wednesday. Rockets continued to rain on southern Israeli cities throughout the morning hours.

Meanwhile, the security cabinet scrambled Defense Minister Ehud Barak to a special discussion on the massive rocket fire against western Negev Israeli communities.

A number of Grad-type rockets were fired at Ashkelon throughout the morning, one of them landing in the yard of a private residence, causing several people to go into shock.

A house in the Sdot Negev region sustained a direct hit from a rocket just before noon on Wednesday. No one was wounded in the attack but the rocket caused extensive damage.