VIDEO - The Qassam fire on Israel's western Negev continued uninterrupted throughout Thursday, a day after a student at Sderot's Sapir College was killed in a rocket attack.
Two people were lightly wounded in the attacks, while several others suffered shock. A raw-materials factory in Sderot's industrial area sustained a direct Qassam hit. A fire broke on the premises and firefighters were sent to the place to extinguish it.
A Qassam fired from northern Gaza landed near the college Thursday morning, wounding an officer belonging to Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter's protection detail.
The security officer was at the place for preliminary scouting of the area in preparation for the minister's visit. He sustained shrapnel injuries and was treated by Magen David Adom paramedics on the scene, before being evacuated to Barzilay Medical Center in Ashkelon.
Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam brigades claimed responsibility for the shooting.
At least eight rockets were fired at Sderot and its vicinity later Thursday. A 70-year-old woman was lightly injured by shrapnel and evacuated to the Barzilay Medical Center in Ashkelon. One of the rockets hit a house, causing several people to suffer shock, the building itself sustained some damage.
Earlier, several people suffered shock after a Qassam landed near an elementary school in town.
Qassam that landed in Sapir College (Photo: Amir Cohen)
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported that Hamza Hiya, son of senior Hamas operative Khalil al-Hiya, was killed in an IDF strike in the southern Strip.
According to reports, Hiya was part of a Hamas cell which came under fire. Khalil al-Hiya survived an assassination attack, which killed seven of his family members, several months ago.
Minister Dichter toured rocket landing sites in Ashkelon Thursday, before continuing to Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the police station in Sderot.
Minister Dichter visiting Sderot Thursday (Photo: Zeev Trachtman)
A student at the college, 47-year-old Roni Yechiya, was killed Wednesday in a rocket barrage on the place. Classes in Sapir were held as usual Thursday, but many students chose not to attend, in light of Wednesday's tragedy.
Sapir College President Zeev Tzahor told Ynet: "We are trying to get back to our routine the day after, and there are indeed fewer students than usual.
"This is a very difficult day for us... although we have sustained many attacks over the last seven years, this is the first time one of our students gets killed. But whoever thinks that the solution is to not be here is not the sort of person that studies here. It's tough for me personally, but this is my place and my institution and I don't have any other choice."
Three Palestinian gunmen were killed
early Thursday in an IDF strike in the Gaza neighborhood of Sajaiya. Two of the men killed belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees' military wing and the third was a Hamas militant.
Ali Waked and Tal Rabinovsky contributed to the report
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