At least four people were killed and several others seriously wounded in a mortar attack in the Eshkol Regional Council, next to the Gaza border, late Monday afternoon.
Ten people in total suffered harm from the attack. Emergency teams evacuated at lease nine people to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba. Four of those injured were airlifted to the hospital.
The projectile fired from the Gaza Strip landed among a crowd of people.
None of those killed or hurt in the projectile attack were Eshkol residents, said a spokeswoman for the regional council.
Shortly after the mortar shell attack, a Code Red siren sounded in the area.
The head of the Eshkol Regional Council Haim Yellin urged civilians against visiting soldiers in the area.
Mortar shells and rockets have continued to be fired into the Eshkol region throughout every cease-fire that has been called since Operation Protective Edge has begun. Mortars do not set off the Code Red rocket siren and typically fall without warning.
The first Israeli civilian fatality of the operation was Dror Hanin, killed by a mortar strike near the Erez Crossing on July 15.