Archaeological excavations at Tel Ashkelon National Park have uncovered a 2,000-year-old Roman-era basilica, the largest of its kind found in Israel to date, as well as an ancient theater, that will soon be opened to visitors.

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In Roman times, public life revolved around the basilica (a Roman public building). Festivals, business and social gatherings took place there on a daily basis.

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists Dr. Rachel Bar-Natan, Saar Ganor, and Federico Kobrin, who are directing the excavation, explained that the enormous building, which measures 115 by 34 meters (377 by 11 feet) had been built at the center of ancient Ashkelon.

Video: Yuli Schwartz/ Israel Antiquities Authority

"During the Roman Severan Dynasty, in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, the building was renovated, marble architectural features were brought to the site and a small theater was added," they explained.

"Herodian coins discovered in the bedding of the structure's ancient floors show that it was built at the time of one of the greatest builders ever to have lived in the country. The writings of the historian Josephus [Flavius] mention Herod's construction in the city of Ashkelon and list fountains, a bathhouse and colonnaded halls. Today, based on the new archaeological evidence, we can understand the origins of the historical record," the archaeologists continued.

The basilica was divided into three parts – a central hall and two side halls, and the space was surrounded with rows of marble columns and capitals, which rose to an estimated height of 13 meters (42.5 feet) and supported the building's roof. The floor and walls were built of marble, which was imported from Asia Minor in merchant ships that reached the shores of Ashkelon.

Roughly 200 marble items weighing hundreds of tons have been found including dozens of column capitals with plant motifs were discovered, some bearing an eagle – the symbol of the Roman Empire.

The compound was excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority with support from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the Ashkelon Municipality, and the Leon Levy Foundation and the site will be opened on completion of the development, conservation, and restoration work, which will include erecting the sculptures and marble columns discovered at the site.

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The Vaizel family long felt it was just a matter of time before their home was hit by a rocket from Gaza.

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So after it came, plowing through their kitchen wall, they stayed on, trying to maintain a semblance of normal life even as fresh sirens forced them to rush back down to the bomb shelter.

An eruption of fighting on May 10 saw more than 4,300 rockets launched at Israel by terrorist operatives in the Gaza Strip, salvoes of an unprecedented intensity for southern Israel even as its forces have pounded Hamas targets in the Palestinian enclave.

"It is sad to say but we got used to it," said Adi Vaizel, 50, a widowed father of four. "Every few years we have this routine. It's unpleasant but, you know, we live in a place which is near a border, near a country we have a conflict with."

He added: "This round has been especially difficult."

Sirens sounded as the family hosted a Reuters TV crew. Everyone – including their dog named Shluk – trooped down to a fortified room in the basement, which saved them from the rocket strike on Sunday.

When the all-clear sounded, they were back upstairs, preparing food off improvised equipment in the ruined kitchen.

"There is still some fear, as they continue to fire rockets," said Vaizel's 17-year-old son Shai. "But I think it won't help if we go elsewhere. This is our home."

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The Israel Fire and Rescue Services said Wednesday afternoon that it has almost completely extinguished a blaze at a petroleum facility in southern Israel that was set alight by a rocket fired by Hamas terrorists.

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The rocket landed Tuesday night near a Petroleum and Energy Infrastructures Ltd. facility south of Ashkelon during a major barrage by Gaza terrorists. The result was a massive fire in a storage tank that blazed through the night and into Wednesday.

Israel Fire and Rescue Services said that 20 teams have been working for 25 hours to extinguish the inferno that issued a column of thick black smoke. The state-owned Petroleum and Energy Infrastructures said the fuel had been transferred to another storage facility.

On Wednesday, the plume of smoke was still rising over Ashkelon. Israeli health and environment officials have instructed residents of the area to avoid prolonged periods outdoors.

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Several hours after his home was hit by a rocket from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Ashkelon resident Edward Weinstock recalled the terrifying moment he realized the rocket landed in his son's bedroom.

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"Sirens kept going off throughout the night," he said from the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where he was hospitalized with moderate wounds. "Another siren went off again at 5 a.m., and the rocket landed in my child's bedroom. Luckily, he did not sleep in his room. I had just taken him out of there.

"I do not remember where it fell exactly, but I found myself on the floor, covered in shrapnel. Only I was injured. My family – wife and two kids – are alright," he said.

Magen David Adom paramedic Eitan Lasri said the city was on high alert. Hamas has launched more than 250 rockets into Israel in the last 24 hours, many of which landed in the coastal city.

"As soon as we heard the siren, we ran to the protected spaces. When reports came out on rockets hitting residential buildings, we got into our vehicles and ambulances," Lasri said.

Lasri and his colleagues treated several people who suffered shrapnel wounds, as well as shock victims, and some had to be hospitalized.

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According to the Israel Electric Corporation, the jellyfish were in the thousands and had effectively clogged the special structure used for cooling equipment in the plant. Because this poses a severe disruption that could result in a reduced capacity for electricity production, workers have been working around the clock in a massive cleanup effort at the site to ensure consumers would not be affected.

Video: Shemi Bitan / Israel Electric Corporation

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According to the indictment, Anat Dayan was employed as a caregiver for an 83-year-old resident of the city who had lost his sight. She is suspected of making personal purchases using the man's credit card, which he gave her to do his grocery shopping.

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Dayan is also accused of using the man's checks to withdraw money, which she used to pay off his credit card so he would not notice the fraudulent charges.

The man's son discovered the suspected financial exploitation and reported it to the police.

The prosecutor for the Southern District has asked that Dayan's remand be extended until the end of the legal proceedings.

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The garum vats, some of the few to be discovered extant in the eastern Mediterranean region, were unearthed at a city-funded excavation in which young residents of Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, outside Ashkelon, and pupils from the Makif Vav Middle School, next to the site, took part.

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Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini of the IAA explains the central place fish sauce – which had to be prepared outside of urban areas due to the stench it created – held in the ancient Roman diet.

"Historical sources refer to the production of special fish sauce that was used as a basic condiment for food in the Roman and Byzantine eras throughout the Mediterranean basin," Erickson-Gini said.

"This is a rare find in our region and very few installations of this kind have been found in the eastern Mediterranean. Ancient sources even refer to the production of Jewish [kosher] garum. The discovery of this kind of installation in Ashkelon evinces that the Roman tastes that spread throughout the empire were not confined to dress, but also included dietary habits," Erickson-Gini noted.

Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Glam called the recent finds "additional proof [that] Ashkelon is one of the most ancient cities in the world.

"The recent excavation … produces a combination of the city's rich past, its present development, and its future progress," Glam said.

Visitors curious about the culinary habits of the ancient Romans can visit the dig free of charge on Sunday, Dec. 22, the first day of Hanukkah.

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Tekalin left her house around 6 a.m. last Wednesday and according to the Israel Police, she most likely lost consciousness when she fell into the dumpster and then transported by a garbage truck to the Dudaim garbage facility.

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A close family member said, "We don't understand what and why this happened, we are simply trying to understand and comprehend how a mother, a wonderful woman who was full of life, left her house and suddenly disappeared. We hope that our worst fears don't materialize."

The night before she went missing, Tekalin celebrated the bar mitzvah of her eldest son.

Police are now searching both nearby garbage facilities.

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The video was taken on Tuesday night by Ashkelon resident Reut Shpilman, soon after a rocket siren went off in the coastal city just before midnight.

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Speaking with Israeli media, she said this heart-wrenching sight of her terrified children happens every time the sirens go off.

"It's very frustrating, the gap between understanding what's happening here in the south and the way life just goes on outside the siren areas," Shpilman, a mother of four, told Channel 12 News on Wednesday. "We have 30 seconds [after a siren sounds], to get four kids to the bomb shelter, which is outside the house. We can't go on like this."

Since she posted the video on Facebook, it has been viewed over 85,000 times and shared over 3,300 times.

The clip shows Shpilman's 8-year-old daughter, Ori, visibly trembling and weeping as she tells her mother, "I don't want to [go back into the house]. I want to stay here ... until there won't be any more wars, enough," she says, lips quivering.

Six-year-old Yonatan, hands clasped in front of him, frowns and visibly shakes as he moves to stand next to his mother, as Noam, 3, clings to his mother's leg.

Shpilman suggests, "Let's go inside the house."

But Ori refuses. "Mom, I don't like it in the house. I want to stay here."

"How long can we stay here?" Shpilman asks.

"I'm scared, I want to stay here," Ori insists, continuing to tremble. "I want to stay here."

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The Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon said in a statement that "Mrs. Jamil was admitted to the hospital after she fell while running for shelter during rocket fire … in May. She injured her back and while she was hospitalized other problems emerged, which caused her condition to deteriorate and sadly, she died."

Rivka Jamil was an IDF widow. Her late husband, Salem Jamil, was killed in Sinai on the 11^th day of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Rivka is survived by five children, 15 grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.

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