Israel has decided to step up its targeted killings of senior Islamic Jihad officials in response to recent Qassam fire. The Israel Defense Forces has also decided to impose an „aerial siege” aimed at keeping Palestinians from entering the ruins of three settlements in northern Gaza that are frequently used as launch sites for the rockets. Most of the Qassam attacks have been carried out by the Islamic Jihad. In addition, the IDF on Thursday unleashed a massive artillery barrage in response to a Qassam rocket attack earlier in the day that lightly wounded four IDF soldiers at an army base near the Gaza border. The IDF shelling killed one person – Ibrahim Na’ama, 21, of Jabalya, according to Palestinian sources. Prior to the hit on the army base, another Qassam landed near the Ashkelon industrial zone, but caused neither casualties nor property damage. This is the third time a Qassam has landed near Ashkelon in the last week, and the second time this week that one has hit an army base. The rocket that hit the base, which serves infantry and armored forces patrolling the Israel-Gaza border, landed near the mess hall at about 9:30 A.M. A battalion commander and three soldiers who has just come out of a nearby building were lightly wounded by shrapnel and were taken to hospital for treatment. A fifth soldier, who suffered from shock, was also taken to hospital. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. In response, the government and the defense establishment decided Thursday to impose the „aerial siege” on the ruins of the three northern Gaza settlements, via both aerial bombing and artillery shelling. However, no ground operation in Gaza is currently under consideration. Over the past two days, senior political and security officials have also devoted several hours to discussing the idea of cutting off electricity to the Gaza Strip for a few hours in response to the escalating Qassam barrages. According to a government source, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was „wavering” over the idea during a meeting on Wednesday, but senior IDF officials strongly opposed it, arguing that it constituted collective punishment and would be hard to justify. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz also opposes the idea. As a result, it has been rejected for now, but will be discussed again if the escalation continues, the officials said. Deputy Defense Minister Ze’ev Boim (Kadima) told Army Radio on Friday that Israel may fire artillery shells towards populated areas of the Gaza Strip as opposed to open fields, as the IDF has been doing until now in response to Qassam rocket fire. „We need to tell the residents of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and the suburbs of Jabaliya: ‘In 12 hours, artillery will land in the area, evacuate these areas’,” Boim said. „I think one operation of this sort can solve the problem.” The main reason that Israel is thus far keeping its response to the Qassams relatively mild is next month’s parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Authority: Israel fears that harsh measures, such as a major ground operation, would endanger PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ continued rule and could even push him to resign – something that some Israeli intelligence agencies believe he is close to doing anyway. However, IDF sources admitted that the current measures are unlikely to stop the Qassams completely, because Islamic Jihad, unlike Hamas, is not running in the elections and is therefore relatively immune to pressure from the Palestinian public.
BPI-info
BPI-info
