A Palestinian man was killed and an Israeli woman was seriously wounded when a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip directly hit a residential building in Ashkelon in southern Israel early Tuesday.
The two were found by a civilian surveyor working for a construction company who arrived to film the rubble after police had completed their search for survivors.
"I arrived after the police left and I started filming, but all of a sudden I heard a noise. I thought it was just a gust of wind but then I saw something move," the surveyor said.
"I thought it was just paper, so I pulled it, but then I felt fingers and I realized someone was there. I shouted, 'Call an ambulance!' and started sifting through the rubble, and I saw a man's hand. I soon realized that he was no longer alive, but the woman next to him was still breathing."
According to the Israeli media, the dead man was Mahmoud Bashir Abu Asbah, 48, from the Arab town of Halhul, near Hebron. He died while hugging his partner in bed. Had it not been for the surveyor, the two would have remained under the rubble until it was cleared away.
Nelkel Neguisa, a resident of the same building, told Israel Hayom: "We heard an explosion, and then we ran outside and saw what happened. I was told not to go back inside our apartment so I don't know where I'm going to spend the night."
Another woman who lives on the same street told Israel Hayom that her building was also hit.
"It is frightening to be without a shelter," she said. "I was watching television and I suppose God was watching over me because there was shattered glass everywhere. We can't go back to sleep. They [Hamas] do this to us because we don't retaliate."
One of her neighbors said: "My walls are full of cracks; everything is gone. We had a similar experience during the previous war [in 2014], but this is the first time we have had such a direct hit. I was at home, and I ran to the second floor when the siren went off and then saw the fire. My son went back inside and saw the shattered glass. I hope we get help."
