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The body of three-year-old Palestinian boy Yasser Adnan Ashkar during his funeral in Beit Hanoun on Wednesday. Ashkar was killed by rockets misfired by Palestinian terrorists, who were aiming to kill Jewish settler supporters at a rally in Sderot. (AP)
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| By israelinsider staff and partners August 3, 2005 |
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As the anti-disengagement rally in Sderot came to a close last night, Palestinian terrorists fired three Qassam rockets at the group, missed and instead hit a house in Beit Hanun, killing a three-year-old Palestinian child and injuring at least nine other Palestinians, including five children. Hamas denied involvement in the attack and so did the Islamic Jihad, which vowed to halt its rocket fire on Jewish settlers ahead of the pullout.
As the rally in Sderot was ending, Palestinian militants in nearby Gaza fired three homemade rockets toward the town, a frequent target of such barrages as terrorists step up their attacks to try to claim that the pullout is a military victory.
The primitive rockets misfired. One hit a house in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, killing a 3-year-old boy and wounding nine other people. A second rocket also fell in Beit Hanoun, and the other landed harmlessly in a field near Sderot.
Among the wounded were five children, aged 4 to 11, including four children of Hisham Abdel Razek, a senior official in the ruling Fatah party and a former Palestinian Cabinet minister. Abdel Razek's wife was also wounded.
Abdel Razek's family was visiting at the time, witnesses said. The house was severely damaged.
A few minutes later, an explosion was heard outside the Gaza City house of Palestinian Cabinet Justice Minister Zohir Sourani, witnesses said. No one was hurt, police said, but there was some damage.
In the meantime, terrorist group Hamas denied involvement in a rocket attack. Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing in northern Gaza, said the group had "no link" to the rocket fire. "When we carry out any shooting or operation, we are ready to shoulder responsibility for the consequences."
He refused to say whether Hamas, which has fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli targets in recent years, would halt its attacks ahead of Israel's upcoming pullout from Gaza.
Earlier Wednesday, the militant group Islamic Jihad said it would halt its rocket fire ahead of the pullout, while also denying involvement in Tuesday's deadly attack.
Islamic Jihad issued a statement denying any involvement and calling the attack an "unfortunate incident." It said it had issued orders three days ago to stop firing rockets "to give the chance for a quiet Zionist departure from our beloved Gaza."
It was not clear how committed Islamic Jihad was to this latest cease-fire declaration. The group has attacked Israeli targets repeatedly throughout a 6-month-old truce between Israel and the Palestinians, saying it was acting to avenge Israeli violations. It has claimed responsibility for the two suicide bombings carried out during the truce.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Mohammed Dahlan said the attack hurt Palestinian interests.
"I think the Palestinian government will seriously look into this dangerous act that encourages and promotes chaos more than it does hope," Dahlan said.
The AP contributed to this report.
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