As the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah approaches, Israel marks the eighth day of Operation Pillar of Defense by counting the missiles fired.

Hanukkah is a holiday especially precious to children, but this year as the festival approaches, Israeli families are focused more on the safety of their children than on shopping for their gifts.

Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorists and affiliated terrorist groups have fired 1,408 missiles and rockets at Israel since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense, eight days ago.

Of those fired, 56 missiles have struck populated areas in Israel, and 412 have been intercepted and shot down by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.

They have varied in ranges from the short-range “homemade” Kassam rockets that reach close to 20-25 kilometers (12.5-15 miles), to medium-range Grad Katyusha missiles that reach up to 40 kilometers (25 miles), and now also include the Iranian Fajr-5 missiles, with a range of 75-80 kilometers (45-48 miles).

On Wednesday, Iranian radio station “al-Alam” broadcast in Arabic a confirmation that the Islamic Republic had supplied the Fajr-5 missiles to Hamas.

The IDF has attacked more than 1,500 terror targets in Gaza during the same eight day period. 

Targets struck by IDF fighter pilots have included Hamas commanders, weapons smuggling tunnels, and dozens of terrorist cells who were in the process of firing rockets as they were hit.

More than 100 confirmed terrorists have been killed thus far.