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Damage from a Qassam rocket fired into the southern Israeli city of Sderot. (file)
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| By israelinsider staff March 29, 2007 |
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After an extended policy of restraint in the face of almost daily rockets attacks from Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces finally struck back, hitting a target in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday afternoon. Israel has maintained a policy of restraint since a ceasefire was declared in November 2006 despite Palestinian refusal to stop the rocket attacks.
The army reported that the target was a Qassam launching cell made up of three terrorists, who were apparently struck just before launching rockets into Israel.
According to Palestinian sources, at least four people were injured in the attack -- one of them critically -- and they claimed all the casualties were civilians.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz stated Wednesday evening, "IDF forces hit the launching cell which was about to fire another missile, one of those Qassam missiles which land on the State of Israel's sovereign territory.
"We have decided to adopt a policy of restraint, but we have to make it unequivocally clear that we will not compromise under any circumstances in terms of our commitment to defend the State of Israel. I am a man of peace, but as far as I am concerned, terror is the main enemy," he added.
On Wednesday, at least seven Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza at the Negev. Six rockets landed in open areas south of Ashkelon and another landed near Sderot. There were no reports of injuries, but agricultural products were damaged. One rocket fell near a strategic facility in the Ashkelon industrial area south of the city.
The al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the terrorist group Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. According to a member of the group, the Qassam attacks were in response to the Arab summit in Riyadh, Ynetnews reported. The terrorist group does not accept the initiative.
Policy of restraint
Since the start of the ceasefire in November, the IDF has not responded to the ongoing rocket fire, even when the army was aware of the locations of terrorist cells. Close to 200 rockets have been fired since then, 152 of which landed in Israel.
Military sources, backed by Defense Minister Amir Peretz, demanded a military response to the daily attacks, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused and insisted on maintaining the policy of restraint.
Military sources claimed that Wednesday's strike could indicate a change in the policy, according to Ynetnews, which could result in more targeted killings of terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF officially declared that there has been no change in its policy of opening fire on rocket launching cells before they fire Qassams or immediately afterwards.
In the meantime, army officials said, there is no plan "to stop playing by the rules," and the targeted killings will not be resumed. |
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