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Sderot under fire, again (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff February 5, 2008 |
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In the wake of Monday's double suicide bombing attempt, the Israeli Air Force fired missiles at a Hamas base in Gaza, killing six Hamas militants. Responding to that and earlier targeted killings, Palestinians sent barrages of rockets into Israel, the latest a volley of eight Kassam rockets, one of which scored a direct hit on a home Sderot, leaving six people lightly wounded.
Sderot's senior security officer said most rockets hit open fields around the city, but the last barrage cut power to one neighborhood. The rockets were fired at the time that President Shimon Peres was visiting the area.
Shortly before his arrival, a Qassam rocket hit a house near the place he planned to visit. Some of the president's would-be hosts suffered from shock. A 14-year-old girl was moderately injured by shrapnel.
Two hours earlier, IAF warplanes attack Hamas police post in Khan Younis, killing seven.
Peres said he was visiting arrived in Sderot er to strengthen the residents. "The city's residents should be proud, and I am proud of them," he said. "I am a citizen like all the citizens of Israel, and I cannot change my route and return to Jerusalem. Therefore, I insisted on visiting Sderot despite the Qassams," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Peres viewed an IDF strike in Gaza, in which the seven Hamas operatives were killed, during a visit to the Shin Bet?s control center in southern Israel.
Palestinians reported that the Israeli army fired a missile at a Hamas police post in Khan Younis. Several police officers were hurt and the post was heavily damaged.
The IDF stated that the strike was carried out in response to the Qassam rockets fired at the southern town of Sderot earlier Tuesday.
IDF sources said that the post struck was not directly linked to the Qassam launching Tuesday morning, but stated that "any Hamas target is attackable, like the targets of other organizations."
The president also commended the Shin Bet officials that he had observed, stating that "these young men are Israel?s defensive shield, working around the clock to keep our country safe and secure." He added: "Hamas will have to be held accountable to its own people and explain why it is dividing the Palestinian people, and making the reality of a Palestinian state a virtual impossibility."
Earlier Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists fired two Kassam rockets that struck two Israeli factories in Sderot's industrial zone.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for firing the rockets.
One penetrated an asbestos roof and the other hit a container containing diesel fuel which did not explode, avoiding a catastrophe, Israel Radio reported. Several people were treated for shock and vehicles near the scene sustained damage from the strike.
In a statement faxed to the media, the PRC and Fatah military wing said the rocket-fire was in response to the killing of Amer Qarmout, a senior PRC commander, in an Israel Air Force strike on Monday.
Also on Tuesday, Palestinians fired on farmers working in the fields of Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza Strip. There were no injuries, but farm equipment was damaged.
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