Ezra HaLevi
Israel ratcheted up its air strikes in Gaza in response to another day of heavy rocket fire on Sderot and Katyusha missiles on the city of Ashkelon.
At least twenty people were killed in the air strikes. PA reports say five children are among the dead but the kids were apparently involved in moving rocket launchers. Late Thursday afternoon, an IAF air strike hit a Hamas position outside the home of Hamas PA chief Ismail Haniyeh, killing one and wounding four others. Haniyeh has gone into hiding and was not home at the time. A day earlier another air strike targeted his office.
Another IAF strike killed two Hamas terrorists – one of them a son of senior Hamas official Khalil al-Haya who oversaw a rocket-launching cell. Al-Haya visited the Gaza morgue and declared that he was proud his son had died for the cause. "I thank G-d for this gift. This is the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom," he said.
An air strike Thursday night targeted terrorists in a vehicle in Khan Younis. The vehicle was marked as a PA electric company car and both terrorists inside were killed. PA reports claimed the men were mere electric company workers.
In Gaza City, two Hamas terrorists, members of the group's Executive Guard military force, were killed in a strike on a truck carrying Kassam rockets near the Shifa Hospital. PA reports claimed the truck driven by the men in military-style uniforms was just carrying beverages.
Four teenagers were killed in an air strike in the Jabalya area. The young men were in an open area used for rocket-fire at the time. PA reports claim they were playing soccer.
Two other air strikes killed one Hamas terrorist each in northern Gaza. Two more strikes destroyed a large weapons warehouse and a Hamas training camp facility. Thursday morning a Gaza City strike killed a Hamas terrorist and two members of the Hizbullah-backed Popular Resistance Committee.
Israeli-Arab Teenage Terrorist Arrested in Jerusalem
The Shabak (General Security Service) released for publication the recent arrest of a 17-year-old female terrorist who intended to carry out a suicide bombing on a Jewish target in Israel. The girl enjoys Israeli citizenship and free passage to all Israeli and PA-controlled areas.
The girl held several meetings with leading Islamic Jihad terrorist coordinators, where she expressed her hatred of Jews and intentions to carry out a suicide bombing. Two Israeli-Arab members of Islamic Jihad from Jerusalem were arrested in the case as well.
The girl's remand was extended Thursday by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court.
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Ashkelon Katyushas Came From Iran Via Egypt
by Ezra HaLevi
Israel's Foreign Ministry says the Grad-type Katyusha rockets fired at Ashkelon came from Iran and may lead Israel back to Gaza.
"In the past 24 hours, over 15 heavy rockets were fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza against Israel's southern port city of Ashkelon," a Foreign Ministry dispatch to journalists and diplomatic staff said. "The 122 mm Grad rockets (also known as Katyushas), are a type of standard military artillery weapon produced in the former Soviet bloc and by other states deploying non-Western arms. It is manufactured to military standards, by a conventional arms industry, and is equipped with a weapons-grade high explosive fragmentation warhead."
The Foreign Ministry pointed the finger at Tehran. "The Grad rockets fired today were apparently smuggled into Gaza from Iran via Egypt through tunnels and the breached Rafah border fence," the dispatch stated. "Israel has repeatedly warned neighboring states and the international community about the arms buildup taking place in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Today's attacks constitute a regretful yet unequivocal proof of the veracity of Israel's warnings."
Prior to the implementation of the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria, anti-expulsion activists placed posters all around Ashkelon proclaiming that the withdrawal would herald missiles on the port city and advising resident to oppose the move or prepare for the attacks. Thursday's missiles slammed into the campus of Barzilai Hospital, destroyed a family home in one of the city's neighborhood, made a large crater in one of the city's streets and stuck the municipal cemetery.
The Foreign Ministry statement ended with an acknowledgement echoing the predictions of Gaza's Jewish evictees: that Israel will have no choice but return to settle the region. "Israel left the Gaza Strip over two years ago, with no intention of ever returning," the statement said. "Yet, the continued escalation of Hamas terrorism emanating from Gaza, purposely targeting Israeli civilians, is liable to leave Israel with no choice."
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Ashkelon Under Rocket Attack
by Hillel Fendel
A total of 24 people are hospitalized, mostly for shock, following the firing of more than 30 rockets and mortar shells from Gaza on Israel on Thursday. Among them are two with shrapnel injuries.
Among the rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza on Israel on Thursday, eight long-range Grad rockets hit the coastal city of Ashkelon. The city's 100,000-plus rocket-besieged residents were told just last night (Wednesday) by Defense Minister Ehud Barak that there was no need to change the city's deployment plans.
The Katyusha-like were fired in several waves in the mid-afternoon hours. Two rockets slammed directly into residential homes, and shock victims were treated at the sites. One rocket landed at the northern entrance to town, and marks the longest-range hit to date.
At the same time, five Kassam rockets were being fired at Sderot and the western Negev. A 70-year-old woman in Sderot suffered shrapnel wounds; she is listed in light condition in Barzilai Hospital. Two rockets scored a direct hit on a hothouse, and the Thai workers inside were just barely able to escape unharmed.
Later in the day, eight more Kassam rockets were fired into Israel; four of them landed north and east of Gaza, and four landed in Ashkelon.
Escalation in Barak's Statements and Threats
Defense Minister Ehud Barak warns of an impending escalation. Following his recent comments that a "solution to the Kassams is closer than thought," Barak said on Wednesday afternoon, "A large ground offensive in Gaza is concrete and actual."
Speaking after a high-level security consultation in the shadow of the rocket attacks on Israel, Barak said, "The responsibility for the escalation lies with Hamas, and he will bear the consequences. We will reach those who are responsible and we will hit those who carry out the attacks."
IAF Attacks
Palestinian Authority sources report that a Hamas terrorist was killed around 2:30 PM, and others were hurt, in an Israel Air Force attack. A total of 13 Gaza Arabs - among them several terrorists - were killed in various IAF counter-terrorism attacks today, including a particularly significant attack on a Hamas position adjacent to the home of Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, who is currently in hiding from Israel.
Thursday Morning Rockets
Prior to the latest waves of Kassam and Grad rocket attacks, 16 Kassams and 8 mortar shells had been fired at the western Negev. One of the former caused injuries to a bodyguard of Public Security Minister Avi Dichter in Sapir College; the guard was checking the area prior to a visit by Dichter in Sderot.
Fire-fighting teams in Sderot were dealing early this afternoon with two fires caused by rocket hits - one in a factory in the industrial zone, and one that set several cars ablaze when a rocket slammed down alongside them.
National Fire Department Commissioner Shimon Romach instructed fire-fighting teams in central Israel to shore up the ranks of their counterparts in Ashkelon and Sderot.
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