Daniel Tragerman, 4, killed inside his own home

Here’s more of Times of Israel’s earlier piece on the killing of Daniel Tragerman:

A four-year-old Israeli boy was killed by a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip on Friday afternoon. The boy, named late Friday as Daniel Tragerman, was at home with his parents and siblings at their kibbutz in the Sha’ar Hanegev Region, close to the border with Gaza, when the attack took place.

An Israeli army spokesperson said the fatal shell was fired from near an UNRWA shelter in Gaza. Earlier, Israeli officials had said it was fired from an UNRWA school — an asserted the IDF later corrected.

Sirens wailed only very shortly before the mortar shell struck outside the Tragerman family home at the kibbutz, and his parents — Doron and Gila — were unable to get their son Daniel into their protected room in time. He was killed by shrapnel from the explosion that smashed into the house.

Daniel Tragerman (photo credit: Courtesy)
Daniel Tragerman (photo credit: Courtesy)

Daniel is the first Israeli child to die in the current Israel-Hamas conflict. His death brought the Israeli death toll since Operation Protective Edge began on July 8 to 68.

He was critically wounded, and later died of his wounds.

Several cars and buildings sustained damage from the fire following the explosion of the mortar shell.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas would pay a “heavy price” for the killing. In a phone call to local Sha’ar Hanegev council head Alon Shuster, Netanyahu said the IDF and Shin Bet would intensify their operations against Hamas and other Gaza terror groups until sustained calm was guaranteed for Israel.

Shuster said the family had only recently returned to their home, having stayed elsewhere during part of the war.

US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro condemned the attack. “I condemn in the strongest terms this outrageous terrorist attack and offer condolences to the boy’s family. Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself, which the United States supports,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Tragerman was the first Israeli fatality since Hamas breached a truce on Tuesday and resumed rocket fire at Israel, prompting a re-escalation of fighting and the collapse of ceasefire talks in Cairo.

— The full story is here.

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