New salvos hit the south Wednesday afternoon; school canceled for the day; residents ordered to stay close to ‘secure rooms’; three foreign workers hurt in morning hit on chicken coop.I wonder if France would be as accommodating if it were their cities being bombed, their people being killed. Oops, I forgot, they were when Germans were doing it.
Palestinian terrorists in Gaza continued their rocket assault on Israel Wednesday afternoon after a three-hour pause in the attacks, which have seen dozens of missiles target the south in the past two days. More than 80 rockets and shells had been fired into Israel Wednesday by late afternoon.
Israeli leaders warned of a much intensified military response if the attacks continued. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of “a more extensive” response. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the army was ready for “a far, far greater and wider response.” Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Israel would not maintain its restraint for many more days, and that Israel was “facing a serious escalation.”
A salvo of eight rockets fell on Hof Ashkelon just after midday, shattering the quiet that had descended for a few hours after a series of rocket attacks in the morning. Another two projectiles were fired at the Hevel Eshkol area. In late afternoon, another missile strike was recorded. There were no reports of injury or damage in the latest attacks.
Three foreign workers were injured, two of them seriously, in Wednesday morning attacks when a rocket hit the chicken coop they were working in, and several houses were damaged by other missiles. At least two other people were reported lightly injured in the strikes. Some of those hurt in the attacks were flown by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
School was cancelled in areas close to Gaza on Wednesday, and residents were told to remain within 15 seconds of “secure rooms” in case of further attacks.
Netanyahu, on a tour of the Iron Dome missile defense facility near the coastal town of Ashkelon, said, “It was not Israel that initiated this escalation, but if it goes on we are prepared to take far more extensive action.” Those who fire on Israel, he said, should know that “they have sealed their own fate.”
He also promised to fortify every building in communities 4.5 to 7 kilometers from the Strip, where until now only educational facilities had been protected.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, speaking to Army Radio, said, “There are about 1,700 households that need fortification, but that said, the situation was a lot more difficult in the past because there was no Iron Dome.”
On Wednesday morning, Iron Dome intercepted seven Grads fired at Ashkelon. In the afternoon the system stopped another missile fired at the city.
France sharply condemned the rocket fire on Israel, urging restraint from both sides.
Since Tuesday afternoon Palestinian terror groups in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have fired dozens of rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. The incoming missiles were a mix of Gaza-produced Kassam missiles and military-grade Grad rockets that have a longer range and larger warhead.
The IDF has responded to the barrages by targeting terror cells and Hamas installations in the Gaza Strip. Three Palestinians were killed in overnight airstrikes.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz called a meeting Tuesday to assess the situation and toured some of the sites that were hit in attacks.
Barak said he could not rule out a ground invasion if fire continued. “If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation. We will do whatever necessary to stop this wave” of violence, he told Army Radio on Wednesday.
“It’s important for the government to think before it decides. This move will bring escalation and not peace — there is no way to reconcile with the terror from Gaza. We are considering everything we need and examining everything. If there will be no choice and the fire continues, they will be struck hard, nothing is impossible,” he said.
Liberman said Israel was facing “a serious escalation” in the south. Speaking before a meeting with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, he said the situation was “unacceptable” and that Israel would “not suffer” the ongoing rocket fire for much longer.
Source
A Kassam rocket exploded on Monday night in an open area in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council after three further rockets exploded earlier in the evening. One of the rockets that fell south of Ashkelon earlier sparked a fire near a kibbutz, and was later doused, police said.
The attacks once again placed reports of an unofficial ceasefire in question and have shattered a period of around 8 hours when no projectiles were fired at southern Israel.
Earlier on Monday, Taher a-Nunu, spokesman for the Hamas government, said that the factions in the Gaza Strip and Hamas announced that they are willing to comply to truce, if Israel agrees not to carry out more strikes.
The Popular Resistance Committees, the group Israel says is behind a deadly terror attack last week near Eilat, announced Monday that it would adhere to a cease-fire as an escalation in Gaza seemed to calm. The announcement followed reports that Palestinian factions had agreed to stop firing rockets at Israel.
"We will temporarily stop firing rockets for the sake of our Palestinian people," the terrorist group said in a statement posted on its website, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported. The PRC had previously resisted committing to a cease-fire.
Over a dozen rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel since Sunday night and the IDF struck back in the Strip at least once. No Gaza-based group took responsibility for the rocket launches. No injuries were reported from the rockets.
Earlier Monday, Palestinian officials said that Hamas had agreed to enforce a cease-fire on smaller Palestinian factions in Gaza, which have been responsible for most of the rockets fired at Israel in the escalation of recent days.
One official who was involved in mediating talks between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza said the groups had "reached an understanding on a truce and that the truce has started."
Officials said that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire after five days of cross-border violence earlier.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office denied that it was partner to any signed cease-fire agreement in Gaza.
A source in the PMO told Army Radio, "We do not sign agreements with Hamas, not directly and not indirectly."
He added, "Israel is monitoring the implementation of the cease-fire. If they continue the shooting, we'll respond accordingly."
At a late-night meeting with security cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu concluded that Israel will not respond to any attacks from Gaza with a large-scale operation.
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While the Israeli media marvels at the continued rocket fire from Gaza despite the so-called ‘ceasefire’, David Bedein, head of the Israel Resource News Agency, Center for Near East Policy Research in Jerusalem is not surprised at all.To the world at large there is a truce and Israel is suppose to allow the rockets to fall. It is time that Israel declare a hudna or tahadiya of their own.
In an interview with Arutz Sheva on Monday, Bedein explained that the Arab terms ‘hudna’ and ‘tahadiya’, which are used by Hamas to describe the ceasefire, do not at all mean that the firing of rockets and missiles stops completely.
Bedein added that according to Islamic rules, these terms allow the individual who uses them to keep fighting or to stop the fighting as he wishes.
“They can attack and stop attacking whenever they want,” he said. “There is no connection between hudna and tahadiya and a ceasefire. You have to understand the terms.”
Bedein’s Center for Near East Policy has studied these terms carefully using four Middle East experts. He reminded what happened after three previous ‘ceasefires’ that were declared by Hamas: After the ceasefire announced in 2006 235 missiles and rockets were into Israeli territory; after the ceasefire announced in 2008 and which lasted six months, 538 missiles and rockets were fired; after the third ceasefire, which was signed after the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, no less than 912 missiles and rockets were fired into Israeli territory.
Bedein emphasized that the Israeli public must understand the differences in the terms and added that when Israelis hear the media mention a ceasefire they should point out the error to the media outlets and say that it is not a ceasefire but a hudna or a tahadiya. He also recommended that similar protest calls also be made to the President’s Residence, which he said helps spreads the ceasefire lie.
He added that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Ministry are not free from blame either, since they know what the terms mean and still do not explain them to the public. The reason for that, believes Bedein, is that “there are elements in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry who do not want to deal with a situation of total war with the Palestinian Authority.”
Meanwhile, ceasefire or not, southern Israeli cities came under rocket fire again for a fifth night on Monday.
Residents in Ashkelon found themselves racing for cover several times throughout the night Monday as the Color Red air raid siren blared its warning, starting in the early evening.
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorist group had announced earlier Monday in a statement on its website that it would adhere to a Hamas-led ceasefire. However, more than a dozen rockets were fired Sunday night after the so-called truce was imposed.
No Gaza-based group took responsibility for the attacks.
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Israel's Barzilai Hospital has produced a short film depicting a missile attack on the site, as part of campaign aimed at prompting the construction of a fortified facility.The Barzilai Hospital serves the Southern Region of Israel. Patients from all over the area, including Gaza are treated there. Yet it still isn't able to withstand an direct attack from the rockets fired from Gaza. This is a disgrace! It must be retrofitted and made secure.
Hospital officials have been engaged in an ongoing struggle for fortification that would enable the medical center, located in the southern town of Ashkelon, to operate safely under the threat of Qassam and Grad rockets.
The latest tactic in the campaign is a three-minute clip that was uploaded to YouTube and sent to potential donors. The film shows an actress playing the part of an American news reporter standing outside the hospital.
The film, produced by the son of a doctor at the hospital, is followed by a message:
"All of this didn't really happen. But in today's reality, we have to be prepared for tomorrow. You have the ability to make sure that this particular 'tomorrow' will never happen."
The government has decided to fortify and expand the hospital several years ago, but the plan has been in limbo after the remnants of ancient graves were discovered at the site.
Read the full story here.
By Anav Silverman - Sderot Media Center
Palestinian rocket explosions marked by the wail of the Tzeva Adom siren alert sounded throughout the day in Sderot and the western Negev. Beginning on Tuesday night, 60 Palestinian rockets have slammed Sderot, the western Negev, and Ashkelon.
One Grad-Katyusha hit outside a home in Ashkelon, sending several people into shock, while destroying a storage shed and shattering the windows of the Ashkelon home. Another Grad-Katyusha slammed into an Ashkelon factory, causing extensive damage. In all, seven Grad-Katyusha rockets hit Ashkelon today.Photo: Roy Edan
Barzilai Medical Center reported that of the 24 people hospitalized for shock on Wednesday, 12 were children.
In the Sdot Negev Regional Council, a Palestinian rocket directly hit a home, causing extensive damage as well. No one was wounded in the attack.
During the early morning, a barrage of Palestinian rockets were fired at Netivot, with one landing in the industrial zone of the city and several more in the agricultural fields outside the city. Another Palestinian rocket landed outside a Netivot Youth Center. Two Netivot residents were treated for trauma.
Among the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip in the morning, one Palestinian rocket failed to clear the border and landed in the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, lightly wounding two Palestinian civilians.
Several Qassams were fired at Sderot with one falling 50 meters outside Sderot Media Center in an industrial center, shattering the windows of several offices in the area and sending a number of people into shock.
Sderot Media Center staff were in the office at the time the office at the time the rocket hit. "We heard the shriek of the Qassam zooming over and the office literally shook from the impact of the rocket explosion," said Itzik Yarkoni.Photo: Roy Edan
On Tuesday, five Qassam rockets were fired at Sderot and the western Negev. One Palestinian rocket landed 30 meters away from the Sderot home that was directly hit by a Qassam rocket this past Sunday.
In all, 37 Palestinian rockets, and 23 mortar shells were fired at Israel in the past 24hours. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the morning rocket terror.
View at YouTube
Sderot residents in fortified room (Photo: Amir Cohen)Four Qassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza Saturday evening towards the city of Sderot in south Israel. There were no reports of injuries or damage.Now imagine a former US President siding with your attackers, advising them and telling the Media that it is all your fault that you are being attacked by your neighbor.
One of the rockets landed in the courtyard of a local factory, but caused no damage to the site. Another rocket landed near a kibbutz in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, while the third landed near the security fence separating Israel from the Hamas-controlled territory. The landing site of the fourth Qassam has yet to be located.
The attack on Sderot took place at around 19:30 pm; loud explosions were heard in the city.
The al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's armed wing, claimed responsibility for the barrage, saying it was launched in retaliation for Israel's "continued aggression" and "crimes of the occupation."
At 9:30 pm another Qassam rocket fired from Gaza landed in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
At least 15 Qassams and 26 mortars were fired toward the western Negev region throughout the day.
In the afternoon a barrage of mortar shells and one rocket fell in a kibbutz located within the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council's limits.
Full Story
Former United States President Jimmy Carter reported that he advised Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on what price to demand from Israel for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted more than two years ago. He said that Hamas is "relatively satisfied with the status quo."I see that a nursing home hasn't been found for Grandpa Carter yet.Carter's visit to Lebanon and Syria earlier this month follows a trip to to Damascus several months ago in the face of American policy against establishing direct contact with the outlawed terrorist organization.
Carter wrote on his website that he spoke with Mashaal about "formulas for prisoner exchange to obtain the release of Corporal Shalit," who has since been promoted to sergeant.
However, he probably is not aware of the promotion because the International Red Cross has not succeeded in convincing Hamas to honor the Geneva Convention and allow its officials to visit him. The Red Cross also has rejected Israeli citizen's demands that it stop visiting terrorists in Israeli jails until Shalit is seen and confirmed to be alive and in good health.
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A day before the Hamas-Israel ceasefire officially ended, Sderot Media Center facilitated a press conference with a panel of Sderot officials who provided brief updates of the security situation and the impact of the ceasefire on the area residents to Israeli and international press.But for the people of Sderot and the Western Negev, the IDF might be giving them a Chanukah present.
Member of Knesset and Kadima party member, Shai Chermesh, who is a resident of Kfar Aza, a western Negev community under daily mortar shelling, participated in the panel. He stated that the ceasefire had yielded no positive results for Israel. "Gilad Schalit is still in Gaza and Sderot and western Negev residents are still under rocket fire. This is a reality that our government must deal with and as of now, the government of Israel has shown that it has little authority over what is happening to Sderot and the western Negev," MK Chermesh concluded.
"Hamas is the occupying power of Gaza and has treated its constituents terribly," he added. "Hamas must stop using their own Palestinian civilians as sacrificial offerings by employing rocket terror tactics against innocent Israelis."
Chermesh stated that he believed that disengaging from Gaza in 2005 was a positive move. "It was important that we left and it was too bad that we didn't leave earlier," he stated. "If the IDF re-enters Gaza, the attack must be planned carefully. The people of Gaza should not go hungry and we must limit civilian causalities as much as possible."
Batya Katar, representing the Parents Association for the security of Sderot, stated that Sderot residents feel that Sderot is a separate entity. "We don't have the right leaders to deal with the reality of the region," she said. "If this was happening in Tel Aviv, there would be a completely different reaction from the government."
"Only yesterday evening, a Palestinian rocket landed right outside a busy supermarket. People outside at the time barely escaped the rocket explosion," Katar added. "Thanks to the Tzeva Adom, they were able to make it inside, but the attack could have been deadly. How many more rocket attacks must Sderot experience, how many near-death experiences must Sderot residents endure--before the government of Israel acts?"
The president of Sderot's Small Businesses Association, Danny Dahan told the press that the rocket fire was economically crippling the region. Dahan, who owns Dahan's supermarket in Sderot, explained that the changed shopping patterns of his customers--"they rush in and rush out" has contributed to the decrease in sales. "People no longer linger around, taking their time to buy food. Everyone wants to go home as quickly as possible." Dahan also stated that due to the rocket fire, there were problems with shipments of goods coming into Sderot. "Some of our suppliers refuse to enter Sderot because of the rocket fire. Many times, I end up going to the junction in Ashkelon to pick up the goods for my supermarket."
Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center director, highlighted that the over 2,500 Palestinian rockets fired at Sderot and the western Negev have caused a marked increase in psychological trauma among Sderot children. "Between 70-94% of Sderot children are suffering from signs of PTSD, according to a recent NATAL survey" Bedein stated.
Bedein also related that between 300-400 Palestinian rockets have been fired at Israel since the ceasefire began in June. Yehuda Ben Maman, the Sderot security officer, added that although many bomb shelters have emerged throughout Sderot in the recent year, most of the structures provide protection from rocket shrapnel only and not from direct Qassam rocket hits.
You can give the children of Sderot a wonderful Christmas/Chanukah gift too. A small donation to the Sderot Media Center will give a child the gift of hope and love. It pays for the small parties given to the children of Sderot, the psychological counseling that many of the citizens need, and the legal help the people of the region need to deal with the government bureaucracy. It is easy to do. Just click on the Sderot Media Logo at the top or bottom of this post and follow the directions from there.Military source: IDF prepared to 'conquer Gaza Strip' if need be
Military sources said the IDF was preparing for a wide-range of scenarios, pending government instructions.
"We have operational plans ranging from conquering the Gaza Strip to pinpoint raids against rocket squads," one officer said. "However, we will ultimately do what we are told to do."
Full Story
Throughout Monday morning, the Tzeva Adom (Code Red) sounded in communities in the western Negev, as Palestinian terrorists fired a barrage of Qassam rockets at Eshkol from Gaza. Approximately seven Qassam missiles landed in the Eshkol region, causing damage to several houses on a western Negev kibbutz. An additional five Qassam missiles were fired at the western Negev in the afternoon and evening, causing no reported damage or injury.From Monkey in the Middle:
On Sunday evening, November 16, a Sderot man was injured in a rocket attack, and sent another two Israelis into shock.
The rocket shrapnel caused injuries to the man's hands and head. Two other Qassam missiles were fired earlier, landing in the Eshkol region.
View Video and Read the Report here
And rockets plastered that town every day, damaging property, maiming children, killing people. Imagine the US government demanding that the Mexican government stop these attacks. And now imagine that the Mexican government refuse to stop them and even encouraging them. Imagine that after every rocket attack, the people of Baja would take to the streets and celebrate, especially if they managed to kill someone. How long would it go on for. A day, a week, a month, a year? No. The US would have invaded within a month and wiped them out. They wouldn't wait 7 years to take care of the problem.
