by Gadi Golan, Daniel Siryoti, Lilach Shoval, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Terrorists fire two rockets, four mortar shells at southern Israel, no injuries reported • Israel Air Force mounts first strike on Gaza Strip terror sites since Operation Pillar of Defense in November • Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon: Hamas is responsible.
The preschool in Sderot
where a rocket fired from Gaza exploded during U.S. President Barack
Obama's trip to Israel two weeks ago.
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Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets at
the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Wednesday morning. The rockets
exploded in an open area and no injuries or damage were reported. The
attacks followed strikes by the Israel Air Force against two terror
targets in Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, which in turn followed mortar
fire at Israel's south on Tuesday afternoon.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit
said, "Israeli aircraft targeted two extensive terror sites in northern
Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from Gaza Strip at Israel." The
statement further said that the pilots recorded direct hits.
According to Gaza's Safa news agency, the IAF
struck a factory in the Sajaiya neighborhood and an open area in the
northern town of Beit Lahiya. There were no reports of injuries.
"Occupation planes bombarded an open area in northern Gaza; there were
none wounded," a statement from the Hamas Interior Ministry said.
Tuesday night's strikes marked the first time
the IAF has attacked in Gaza since Israel and Hamas began observing an
Egyptian-brokered cease-fire in November, following Operation Pillar of
Defense. Tuesday was the third time since the November truce that
rockets from Gaza have hit Israel.
An al-Qaida-linked group called Magles Shoura
al-Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for Tuesday's rocket fire on
Israel. Two mortar shells landed near the Israel-Gaza border and two
others exploded in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing
no harm. Eshkol Regional Council head Haim Yalin said that the Color Red
alert did not sound ahead of the mortars' impact.
"We will not allow a situation like we had
before Operation Pillar of Defense to happen again," IDF Spokesman Brig.
Gen. Yoav Mordechai said, referring to the constant rocket fire from
Gaza that led to Israel's November offensive.
"Hamas understands that there are new rules
now. The past five months have been the quietest since the disengagement
[Israel's 2005 pullout from Gaza Strip]."
And Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said, "The
IDF struck Gaza last night because we hold Hamas responsible for
anything fired from Gaza at Israel. We will not abide a trickle of
rocket fire on Israeli civilians or security forces … such incidents
will meet a forceful response."
The IDF also said that 20 wanted Palestinians
were apprehended in an overnight operation across Judea and Samaria. The
raid spanned the Palestinian city of Tulkarem, the towns of Beit Furik
and Taysir next to Nablus, and the villages of Beit Lakia, near
Ramallah, Burkin, west of Jenin and Bani Na'im, east of Hebron.
The men were turned over to the defense establishment for further interrogation.
Also on Tuesday, teachers in a Sderot
preschool who were preparing it for the children's return from the
Passover break, discovered that the building had sustained severe damage
from a Qassam rocket. IDF and police forces called to the scene
determined that the projectile was most likely one of the five shells
that were fired from Gaza at the city during U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Israel two weeks ago. The preschool was empty at the time.
"This could have ended with a catastrophe," Sderot Mayor
David Buskila told Israel Hayom. The municipality said the preschool,
which is only partially fortified against rocket fire, would remain
closed until all the necessary repairs were made.
Gadi Golan, Daniel Siryoti, Lilach Shoval, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=8371
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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