Dozens of missiles fired from Gaza Strip hit southern Israel 26 August 2011
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip have continued to fire rockets onto Israeli territory. A nine-month-old baby was wounded when a missile hit a home near Ashkelon. One missile was intercepted near Beersheba by the Iron Dome missile defense system, according to the Israeli military. A mortar shell struck the Erez crossing, which is frequently used by Palestinians to enter Israel for medical treatment, causing extensive damage.
Israel Air Force planes on Wednesday night struck several targets in Gaza, including a weapons storage facility, a smuggling tunnel and a weapons manufacturing site, the IDF said. At least four Palestinians were killed and 20 injured in the attacks, Palestinian sources told Israeli media. The attacks followed a day of quiet that came after five days in which southern Israel was struck by more than 100 rockets and shells fired from Gaza. The outburst followed Israeli airstrikes that came in the wake of the terrorist attack a week ago near Eilat in which eight Israelis were killed.
„The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, and will not hesitate to respond with strength and determination to any element that uses terror against the State of Israel and until calm is restored,” the military said in a statement. Defense officials told the ‘Jerusalem Post’ that the government would hold Hamas responsible for the increase in rocket fire.
The IDF believes that the Palestinian terror group Islamic Jihad was behind the rocket fire and that there were indications that Hamas was trying to rein in the group to prevent a larger Israeli retaliation. On Friday, an Islamic Jihad leader called the second truce in less than five days, saying that the Egyptian government had mediated the ceasefire, which would to go into effect at 1 p.m. local time on Friday.
Earlier, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak told CNN that he was satisfied with the IDF operations so far. “I’m extremely satisfied by this achievement,” because it signals “that we mean business and we are not going to accept the massacre of our civilians on the roads,” he said.
Israel’s Counter-Terror Bureau reiterated its warning to Israelis to immediately leave the Sinai Peninsula due to fears that terrorists are roaming freely there with plans to attack or kidnap Israeli holiday-makers.
