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Qassam launch (file photo)
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| By israelinsider staff May 17, 2007 |
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A high school in the Negev suffered a direct hit by a Qassam rocket Thursday morning. Two students were lightly wounded, and several others suffered from shock.
The rocket landed on an unfortified classroom, which was empty at the time. Students at the school were ordered to remain in the fortified areas. Head of the Shaar Hanegev local council Alon Shuster told YnetNews that there were few students at school today. "Only the students that had to take their matriculation exams came to school today, and they were placed in fortified classrooms," he said.
Earlier Thursday morning, three Qassam rockets landed in Sderot, one exploding near a building in town, causing slight damage. A mother and her nine-year-old daughter suffered from shock. Two more rockets landed in open fields in the western Negev.
The Color Red alert sirens failed to activate at all during the morning's barrage.
Yesterday one rocket slammed into a house near the defense minister's own home in Sderot.
Uncertain "respite" options for residents
No letup in the attacks is expected. On the contrary: The defense establishment was preparing for further escalation in Qassam fire after months of restraint, especially since it appears that Israel may at last begin taking action against the launchers. A statement released Wednesday following a security meeting at the Prime Minister's Office said that "Israel will operate against Hamas' Qassam launchers, their commanders and the terror perpetrators."
"It was decided to authorize the IDF and the defense establishment to carry out a series of actions in order to target those launching Qassam rockets and their leadership, to disrupt their ability to launch rockets and to strike the terrorist infrastructure," a statement said.
"Israel will not be able to continue and show restraint when its citizens are being targeted, and therefore it was decided to respond harshly," Olmert said after the meeting.
Of course, the PMO has been issuing statements to this effect for months, although the air attack against a Hamas base in Rafah may reflect a greater willingness to act.
The United States has reportedly forbidden Israel to undertake a ground incursion.
Representatives of the Defense Ministry said that residents interested in leaving two for several days for what has been defined as a "respite holiday." Officials stressed that the town was not being evacuated. Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal also denied any plan to evacuate. "All the rumors about the town being evacuated are ungrounded spins," he stated.
Most residents will be taken mainly to Friends of the IDF recreation facilities across the country, and to communities throughout Israel where people have offered to host families from the beleaguered Western Negev region.
Scores of the residents already left Wednesday on buses provided by billionaire businessman Arcadi Gaydamak, who has reportedly funded rooms for 600 Sderot residents in a Beersheva hotel.
Prime Minister Olmert objected to Gaydamak's involvement, saying it was the government's responsibility to act.
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