On May 2nd 2023, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas fired rockets and mortars from the Gaza Strip to southern Israel, allegedly wounding at least three civilians in Sderot.

According to the Jerusalem Post, PIJ and Hamas fired at least 32 rockets and mortars: three in the morning, 22 in the afternoon and several others in the evening. Of these, at least 19 landed in open areas, four were intercepted by the Iron Dome system, and two struck urban areas, hitting a construction site and a homeyard in Sderot. A tweet by @ntiyft specified that a rocket hit Meshul Etrog Street in Sderot but did not specify if this caused civilian casualties.

As a result, at least three civilians, all foreign nationals, were wounded. One of them, a Chinese worker aged 25, was severely injured: “The injured man was lying on the ground floor of the construction site, unconscious and suffering from shrapnel injuries to his body”, Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service medic Matanel Iluz told the Times of Israel. The “Two other workers who were slightly injured by shrapnel were treated at the scene and taken to the … [Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon] by an MDA ambulance”, he added. According to the Jerusalem Post, at least nine other civilians were wounded, including a 49-years-old woman who was hospitalised after being slightly injured on her way to a bomb shelter (noted for context but Airwars does not count this in our methodology). However, it is unclear how many of these were physical injuries, or if they were caused by the shelling.

The afternoon barrage occurred in a three-minutes span, causing sirens to go off in Sderot, Nir Am, Sde Avraham, Erez and other towns. “The terrorists deliberately chose to shoot during the time when children are coming home from school. Just as my wife was leaving, she heard the Red Alert siren and a boom that shook the building”, Bezalel Eliyahu Atias, a resident of Sderot, told Israel National News. He added: “I immediately arrived at the scene and saw that the situation in terms of property damage was not good. It looked like 10 vehicles had been damaged in the parking lot, including my car. There was a smell of gasoline. In addition, the courtyard fences were smashed. There were no physical injuries at this scene, and we hope that no one was emotionally hurt”.

The attack came shortly after PIJ official Khader Adnan died as a result of an 87-day hunger strike against his being held under administrative detention on charges of terrorism. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh commented the death of Adnan as “premeditated assassination by refusing his request for his release, neglecting him medically, and keeping him in his cell despite the seriousness of his health condition”, Haaretz reported. According to Jewish News Syndicate, PIJ stated that Israel “will pay the price for Adnan’s death” and that it “will be a lesson for generations”.