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Kassam rocket in ground (katif.net archive photo)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners July 15, 2005 |
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Palestinian terrorists continue to fire rockets into Sderot, after a Qassam rocket fired yesterday killed 22-year-old Israeli woman Dana Galkowitz in an attack on Netiv Ha'asara, north of Gaza's Erez crossing. Israeli attack helicopters launched four raids at Hamas hotbed targets in three locations in Gaza.
After the Qassam rocket casualty yesterday, David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, charged that the Palestinian Authority was responsible because of its "refusal to fight terror." He added, "We will not allow our citizens to be murdered, and if the Palestinian Authority doesn't take necessary steps to prevent terror, we will."
Just hours later, Israeli attack helicopters launched four raids at targets in three locations in Gaza. No one was hurt.
Three missiles struck a building used by Hamas as a cultural center in northern Gaza, residents said.
In southern Gaza, witnesses said Israeli helicopters fired missiles at the Khan Younis cemetery, a frequent launching site for Palestinians firing rockets and mortars at nearby settlements.
Then helicopters fired missiles at a metal workshop in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said the targets in the two southern Gaza raids were buildings used by Hamas as a warehouse for weapons, and the metal workshop was used for making weapons. The military had no comment about the northern Gaza raid.
Both within the Gaza strip, and outside it, terrorists on Thursday fired rockets at civilian targets throughout the day.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades all claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Terrorists apparently timed the massive attack to coincide with a visit to Gaza by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The woman was sitting on the balcony around 5:45 p.m. with her boyfriend when the rocket crashed through the tin roof, causing shrapnel wounds to her head.
Even after she was killed, explosions from incoming rockets could still be heard in the community. Furious neighbors and residents stood near the victim's house, with IDF forces attempting to calm them down. They demanded action from the army, which has been ordered by the Sharon government not to respond significantly to Arab attacks.
ynet reported that the owner of the house said that the death of the woman could have been prevented if the roof had been reinforced. Money for such precautions has been a source of dispute with the Defense Ministry for some eight months.
"I always asked (for help) from the Defense Ministry, but they said that there was no budget for it. I said that someone would get killed, and then the budget would come -- and now someone was killed.
Earlier today, Sapir College in the Western Negev suffered heavy damage from a mortar and rocket attack. Kassams and shells also hit Gush Katif, causing damage but no injuries. One of the rockets hit the house of David Katuel, whose wife and four children were murdered in a terrorist attack last year. He was unhurt.
An official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office told Haaretz in reaction to the attacks that "the Palestinian Authority is responsible for this fatal attack because it continues to refuse to take the necessary steps to fight terror."
"Israel has lost six Israelis this past week to terror," spokesman David Baker said. "If the PA does not take the necessary steps to end terror, Israel will." The statement is routinely repeated by Sharon spokespeople after each unanswered attack.
This time, officials say, they will go after Hamas, one of the three organizations firing from the Gaza town of Beit Hanun and other sites in the northern Strip.
The Yesha Council called on Sharon to halt his retreat plan immediately. "If the prime minister put into assuring the security of Israel's citizens the same thought and energy he invests in the plan, our security situation would be much better," the settler council said in a statement.
"The Palestinians, who see in Nativ Ha'asara the Shaaba Farm [contested by the Hezbollah in the north] of the south, will turn the other communities around Gaza as targets for Kassams," the statement added.
The AP contributed to this report.
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