"We are witnessing the expansion of the rocket fire emanating from Gaza to a radius of 30 - 40 kilometers (about 19 – 25 miles)," the deputy commander of the IDF's Home Front Command said Wednesday.
Addressing residents' claims that the city's bomb shelters are run down and uninhabitable, Ben-David said that on Monday the IDF instructed the local municipality to open all of the shelters and make certain that they are fit for use.
The army official said the rocket that struck the school in Beersheba was manufactured in China, is heavier than the Qassam and can "potentially cause much greater damage." He said the rocket contains metal pallets that can spread out across a radius of up to 100 meters (about 328 feet) from the point of impact.