IDF instructed to resume targeted killings against Islamic Jihad leaders The political echelon on Tuesday instructed the IDF to resume targeted killings against Islamic Jihad leaders in order to combat the persistent Kassam rocket attacks on the western Negev, Army Radio reported on Tuesday morning.
The move came in response to the volley of rockets that landed in and around Sderot on Monday morning, including one rocket that slammed into a day care center's courtyard.
Government officials in Jerusalem called the organization a terror group and said they would not only target those who launched the rockets, calling on those giving the orders to also "beware".
Nevertheless, the threats did not seem to deter the terrorists, who continued their rocket attacks Tuesday morning, firing five Kassams towards the western Negev.
Three of the rockets landed in open areas and two landed in central Sderot. No one was wounded in the attacks.
Moreover, Israel is considering applying pressure on the Palestinians in non-military ways, such as cutting off electricity and water to the Gaza Strip.
Vice Premier Haim Ramon told Army Radio that he supported such a move.
"On principle, we need to fix a price for every attack from Gaza against Gaza belt communities," Ramon told Army Radio. "We can not continue to supply water, fuel and electricity when they are trying to kill our children."
Islamic Jihad was responsible for all nine of the Kassam attacks which landed on Monday, officials said. The rockets were timed to hit when parents were taking their children to school, defense officials said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that Israel would not "live with the situation and carry on as usual."
Olmert, at a press conference with visiting Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer on Monday, said the IDF and security services had standing orders "to destroy every rocket launcher and hit everyone who is involved in the rocket fire."
While Islamic Jihad fired the rockets, they did benefit from logistical assistance from Hamas, Defense Ministry officials said, and the Islamist group was doing nothing to stop the attacks.
Other government officials said Hamas's political wing opposed attacks at this time, while the organization's military wing wanted to see them continue.
Olmert spoke with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the morning, after the attacks, but did not convene any emergency consultations in the evening on the situation.
The prime minister said the Palestinians had paid a heavy price for Kassam rocket fire in the past and they "will also pay a heavy price in the future."
"We will not compromise on this issue and we will hit at those who operate these systems and the chain of command," he said. "We will not hesitate to get to everyone who threatens the citizens of the South, whoever it is, wherever they are."
While Olmert was hinting broadly at targeting Islamic Jihad's leadership, defense officials said Monday's Kassam barrage on Sderot demonstrated the need for a large-scale operation inside the Gaza Strip to weaken Hamas and prevent future attacks.
"It does not appear that the Palestinians will stop the rocket attacks on their own," one official said. "Therefore, it is probably only a matter of time before we will need to launch a large-scale operation."
OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant has for several months been calling for a large operation in Gaza and has warned that if such an incursion was not carried out in the coming year, the IDF might lose its "window of opportunity" in defeating Hamas in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, meanwhile, advocated a different approach.
"One cannot accept a situation where Sderot children are living under threat while those in Gaza continue with their daily routine," she said at a press conference with visiting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "We must use additional means apart from military ones, to make clear to Gaza residents that their way of life is dependent on Israel," she said.
In recent days, Livni has reportedly advocated measures such as temporarily cutting off electricity to the Strip as a way of bringing down the number of attacks.
Solana, meanwhile, condemned the attacks and expressed "solidarity" with Sderot.
Asked at a press conference with Livni about EU support for operations in Gaza to stop the rockets, Solana said, "Israel has our solidarity in fighting terrorism. Sometimes we do not agree 100 percent on exactly how to combat it, but we offer our full solidarity with Israel in its efforts to fight terrorism."
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.
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