Hamas terrorists resumed their attacks on Israel immediately following the expiration of a 72-hour ceasefire at 8 a.m. Friday, firing more than 40 rockets at Israel by mid-day.

Three Israelis were wounded in the shelling, and one home in the south sustained a direct hit. Dr. Nachmi Paz, director-general of Sderot’s Sapir College, was badly wounded when a rocket fell near his home and was evacuated to Beersheva’s Soroka Hospital.

Municipal shelters were reopened in Beersheva—and in many other cities and towns around the country—ahead of the Jewish Sabbath to permit residents to reach safety quickly, officials said.

As the attacks resumed, so did calls for prayer and good deeds on behalf of everyone in the Holy Land.

Jewish women and girls around the world were called on to have the safety of all in mind when lighting Shabbat candles prior to the onset of Shabbat, and there were prayers on their behalf during congregational Sabbath services and at other times during Shabbat.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leader inscribed a letter in a Torah scroll dedicated to all soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, sponsored by the Chabad Youth Organization of Israel.

After the writing, the prime minister said that he was about to attend a news conference with the foreign press and said: “There, I will do again what the Rebbe (Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory) told me to do decades ago: to light a small candle in the great darkness of lies that surround us.”

“On Shabbat, during this whole battle, the only time that I have a few minutes with my family, we read the weekly Torah portion at the end of the meal, and this gives us a lot of strength,” he said.

“We all value our soldiers, our heroes who are fighting in this just fight to protect our citizens.”

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pens a letter for a new Torah Scroll sponsored by the Chabad Youth Organization in Israel on behalf of the safety of everyone in the Holy Land.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pens a letter for a new Torah Scroll sponsored by the Chabad Youth Organization in Israel on behalf of the safety of everyone in the Holy Land.

List of Wounded and Other Ways to Help

An updated list of hospitalized soldiers, including their Hebrew names and their mothers’ Hebrew names, was published on Friday by the Chabad Youth Organization of Israel with calls to pray for their recovery.

For those wishing to help in the effort from abroad, Chabad.org has set up a special web page where people can dedicate a mitzvah and write a note to IDF soldiers in general.

Mitzvahs and notes can be specifically directed to the wounded, and printouts will be hand-delivered by staff and volunteers of the Chabad Terror Victims Project.

Those wishing to write a letter and dedicate a mitzvah to IDF soldiers can click here to participate.

For more news, impressions, mitzvahs and prayers related to “Operation Protective Edge,” click here.

Readers can click on the image below for a larger version of the list of those hospitalized.