A Fox News reporter covering Israel’s war against terror was nearly struck by a rocket fired by Hamas from inside Gaza Friday as he and other journalists had converged near a kindergarten.
Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst was interviewed about the blast, which damaged the building and a number of vehicles, near Israel’s border with Gaza in the southern part of the country.
Fox News anchor Kayleigh McEnany was interviewed just a moment after the blast as alarms were still going off and while Israeli soldiers and police officers were converging on the area to check for injuries.
Shrapnel from the projectile, which had slipped past Israel’s Iron Dome system, could be seen embedded into walls.
“You can actually see a piece of the rocket,” Yingst told McEnany. “So, this is a small rocket and what you’re looking at is shrapnel from the rocket. They are collecting this as we speak.”
.@TreyYingst to @OutnumberedFNC‘s @EmilyCompagno and @KayleighMcEnany: Shrapnel is “all over the side of this kindergarten…[W]e were here about to go on air to speak to you when this was taking place and you — you can see just how large the blast was.”
“Hamas has been using… pic.twitter.com/zFEAYopnDE
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2023
The reporter commented that Israel had been targeted by so many rockets that the Iron Dome could not keep up.
He also showed the network’s viewers a piece of the missile.
“That’s the engine from the rocket,” he said.
Fox’s @TreyYingst to @OutnumberedFNC‘s @KayleighMcEnany: “You can actually see a piece of the rocket. So, this is a small rocket and what you’re looking at is shrapnel from the rocket. They are collecting this as we speak. In terms of…the Iron Dome, it works to intercept fire… pic.twitter.com/UIg8r1NGyN
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 3, 2023
Yingst further explained that the Iron Dome system intentionally lets some rockets through if they are headed toward areas that have been evacuated.
The rationale is it preserves previous rockets that could be more effective to save lives in populated areas.
A video Yingst later shared showed the moment the projectile exploded within 100 feet or so, he said, of where he and other reporters were stationed.
He said on his X page the video was taken by CNN photojournalist Matthias Somm.
The moment a rocket landed next to us.
(Credit: @Matt_somm) pic.twitter.com/p16tn5Qyyx
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) November 3, 2023
Later, Yingst uploaded his own video on X in which he described the harrowing moment in which the missile exploded near him.
He offered the video as an example of how little time Israeli civilians have to react – less than 10 seconds – when a projectile is fired and not intercepted.
It’s by chance that no journalists were injured or killed. A rocket just landed feet away from where dozens of reporters are working tonight. pic.twitter.com/FTQN37hpFm
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) November 3, 2023
“It gives you a sense of just how little time people have in these southern communities to respond when there is rocket fire,” he said. “It is just by chance that no one was injured or killed.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
