Haaretz
Kislev 4, 5766
Following a recent upsurge in Palestinian rocket
fire into Israel, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Monday approved a
resumption of the practice of targeted assassinations of Palestinian
militants in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
The decision
came after Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets into the western Negev
from the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening.
The Qassam rockets landed in
Shuva, a moshav about 7.5 kilometers from the border. One landed about 30
meters from a home in the agricultural community, causing some damage and
sending a two women into shock. The other rockets caused no
damage.
The Israel Defense Forces responded soon after by shelling
the presumed launch sites in the northern Gaza Strip, while Israel Air
Force jets set off sonic booms and fired missiles at the sites and at
offices of an Islamic Jihad charity. The IDF said the charity was a front
for the disbursement of payments to the families of dead militants and
other terror-related activity.
IDF sources told Israel Radio that
the the army would continue to use all means necessary to stop the attacks
and protect Israeli citizens.
Unlike other communities near the
border with Gaza, Shuva is not accustomed to Qassam attacks - only three
rockets have fallen in the area to date. However, IDF officials said
Sunday that Shuva is within the striking range of the Qassams.
Four
families evacuated from Elei Sinai in Gush Katif in August said they
intend to leave their temporary housing site at Kibbutz Carmia after a
Qassam rocket landed in an open area about 200 meters from the
site.
The trailer-home site on the kibbutz is currently home to 54
families from Elei Sinai and Nisanit. Sunday morning some of them
demonstrated at the kibbutz entrance, calling the trailer homes
"deathtraps."
"The houses at Elei Sinai were made of concrete,"
Sarit Bar said on Sunday. "Here we are living in a cardboard box. In the
event of a hit the Qassam will come through the wall and explode on the
floor. If there were security rooms like they promised, it would be
different." Bar and her son left Carmia on Sunday to live with relatives
in Ashdod.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for
the rocket attack.
On Saturday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
ordered the IDF to respond with severity to all Qassam strikes and mortar
shellings from the Strip. Mofaz relayed a message to the Palestinians
saying they should prevent the strikes.
The military said no one
was injured in the Israeli airstrikes, but Palestinian security officials
said a bystander was slightly wounded by flying shrapnel in the strike
against the charity offices. They also said an abandoned metal workshop
was hit, a claim the IDF did not confirm.