Photo by: Yannis Behrakis / Reuters
THE JERUSALEM POST
By JPOST.COM STAFF07/17/2011 09:39
Three Kassam rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip overnight Saturday. Two of the rockets exploded in open fields in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council and one in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. No injuries or damage was reported.
The Color Red rocket siren was not activated to warn of the rockets.
Palestinians reported Sunday morning that in response to the rockets, the IDF had struck a home in the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoun. The IDF spokesperson denied that there was any attack on the Strip.
On Friday, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz convened top brass to discuss the escalation in the south, including OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Tal Russo, Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan and OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi.
Following the meeting, senior officers condemned Hamas for not taking action to rein in other terrorist organizations in Gaza that the IDF believes are behind the recent rocket fire. Since the beginning of last month, some two dozen rockets have been fired into Israel.
The recent escalation in rocket fire is viewed in the IDF as part of an effort by global jihad-aligned groups in Gaza to undermine Hamas’s authority and rule by attackingIsrael. It is believed that Hamas is not currently interested in a large-scale conflict, and therefore is not sanctioning the rocket attacks.
Another possibility is that Hamas is turning a blind eye to the attacks as part of an effort to remind Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the world that it should be taken into account in ongoing efforts to get a diplomatic process back on track.
The Hamas leadership in Gaza is also believed to be increasingly frustrated with its failure to establish a unity government with Fatah and by the PA’s plans to declare statehood at the United Nations General Assembly session in September without taking the Gaza-based group into consideration.
Yaakov Katz and Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report
NOTE:
Hey, Hamas ... KNOCK IT OFF! IDIOTS! How about the IDF start putting honey in your ears and forcing you to lay down on ant hills ... just for starters! ... Bee Sting
Hu Yivarech - A Song for the IDF Soldiers
UPDATE
Kassam rocket explodes near Ashkelon, 1 injured
By YAAKOV LAPPIN08/01/2011 23:12
A woman in her 50s was moderately injured by shrapnel from a Palestinian rocket fired at southern Israel from Gaza on Monday night.
The woman was rushed by Magen David Adom paramedics to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
She is a resident of a Beduin community in the western Negev.
A police response team, headed by Lt.-Cmdr. Yoram Sofer, head of the Lachish police sub-district, arrived on the scene of the attack and are expected to run an analysis of the rocket.
She is a resident of a Beduin community in the western Negev.
A police response team, headed by Lt.-Cmdr. Yoram Sofer, head of the Lachish police sub-district, arrived on the scene of the attack and are expected to run an analysis of the rocket.
Over the weekend, twoKassam rockets fired from Gaza landed near Israeli communities in the westernNegev, the IDF spokesperson's officer said. No injuries or damage were reported.
