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Wheat fields ablaze following Qassam attack near Sderot (photo: Flash90)
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| By Israel Insider staff September 4, 2007 |
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The IDF is expected to receive orders to resume targeted killings against Islamic Jihad members involved in coordinating and carrying out Qassam attacks, according to the Jerusalem Post. The news comes after a day of rocket attacks on Sderot by the terrorist group on Monday, one landing in the courtyard of a daycare center, in what the terrorists called "a present for the start of the school year."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Palestinians had paid a heavy price for Qassam 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."
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for all nine of the Qassam attacks on Monday, officials said. The rockets were timed to strike when parents were taking their children to school, according to defense officials.
Some officials are advocating military retaliation in response to the increased rocket fire on the western Negev's civilian population.
"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."
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called for 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.
Vice-Premier Haim Ramon, one of a growing number of cabinet ministers in favor of cutting off utilities to Gaza in response to Qassam fire, echoed Livni's calls for an alternative response.
"We will not continue to supply 'oxygen' in the form of electricity, fuel, and water while they are trying to murder our kids. The capability to do that stems from the fact that we are not in Gaza," Haaretz quoted Ramon as saying.
Terrorists continue to assault Israel with rockets, launching four on Tuesday morning into the western Negev.
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