IDF Strikes Hamas Targets

[Shlomo]

In case you haven't heard...
IDF Strikes Hamas Targets
by Hillel Fendel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122488

(IsraelNN.com) With the Kassam rocket barrage against Sderot continuing for the third day in a row, the IDF attacked three Hamas targets Thursday afternoon.  The first strike targeted an office building in Gaza City, killing at least one person. The building and others near it collapsed as a result. The number of wounded has been reported at between 30 and 45, including both terrorists and passers-by.

The second strike, shortly after 4 PM, hit a car apparently carrying a Kassam launching cell. At least one terrorist - a leading figure in the Kassam establishment - was reported dead in this attack as well.  A tremendous cloud of smoke was seen above the explosion site, the IDF confirmed, apparently because of the large amount of explosives in the targeted car.  Two terrorists were killed in a third strike about an hour later, of a Hamas position inthe Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City.

Palestinian Authority terrorists have fired close to 80 Kassam rockets in the past three days, including 13 by Thursday noon.  Hundreds of people have left Sderot over the past two days for safer areas.
Hamas Threats
After the first Israeli strike, Hamas threatened that it would step up its attacks against Israel, including suicide bombings.

At Wednesday's security consultation with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, intelligence agents said they have information indicating that Gaza terror groups have Soviet-made Grad rockets with a range of 22 kilometers.  This puts Ashkelon easily within range, they warned - though terrorists have already struck southern Ashkelon several times with shorter-range rockets.

Several IDF tanks crossed into northern Gaza Thursday morning, a few hundred meters past the border fence, an artillery unit was moved into place in northern Gaza, and ground forces have bee redeployed around the area.

In Sderot

Several hundred people have left Sderot for an indefinite period, to the consternation of municipal and national leaders. Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said he cannot and would not want to force anyone either way, "but my opinion is that the Arabs in Gaza want to see us leave, and we have no interest in showing them this."

Many residents, however, are having a hard time seeing the national picture in their current precarious position. "It's nothing less than life-threatening here," one man said. "Why should anyone want to stay when he can't even feel safe inside his own house? And the lack of action by the government just makes it even more maddening."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is also against mass-evacuation.  He ordered the Defense Ministry, however, to look into helping the residents take "short vacations" outside Sderot. Olmert noted that residents were not evacuated from the north last summer, nor from Jerusalem when terrorists were blowing up buses and restaurants there.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, speaking by phone with her German counterpart, said that Israel expects the European Union to be involved in diplomatic efforts to stop the Kassams. "As long as this does not happen, Israel will act to end the attacks on her citizens," she said.

Recommendations

Environment Minister Gideon Ezra has proposed cutting electric power to Gaza as a way of forcing the Palestinian Authority to control the terrorists in its midst. “Blacking out Gaza will cause the residents to pressure Hamas terrorists to stop firing at Sderot,” said the Kadima MK.

Trade Minister Eli Yishai, the head of the Shas Party, said the situation in Gaza must be dealt with "surgically and precisely."  He recommended a return to "targeted killing" of terrorist leaders, as well as strikes at infrastructures such as electric plants.

 Likud MK Silvan Shalom urged the government to send an IDF tank force into Gaza. “It is impossible to eliminate the terrorism without a ground assault,” said MK Shalom, adding that he was recommending a temporary, not a permanent invasion.

Ron Ben-Yishai, military correspondent of Yediot Acharonot, Israel's largest newspaper, says there is no choice but to occupy parts of Gaza for an extended period.  "Control of the street and arms has shifted to dozens of armed groups and clans, with each one clinging to its own agenda and narrow interests," he wrote today. "There is no Palestinian element that can take upon itself any kind of diplomatic, security, or economic commitment." He added that a large international public relations campaign must precede the invasion, however.
Haaretz correspondent Avi Issacharoff, too, concluded that Israel must re-occupy Gaza. Concluding an analysis of the Fatah-Hamas fighting there, Issacharoff writes, "The Gazans are repeating one clear message: only Israeli occupation will save them. There is no other solution on the horizon."

Fatah-Hamas War Continues

Meanwhile, the murderous battles between Fatah and Hamas continue in Gaza. A Hamas man was killed in a battle at the Islamic University, and several men were abducted at what used to be known as the Netzarim junction in central Gaza.

Close to 30 Arabs have been killed in the battles over the past three days, and it has been estimated that 47 different armed groups are roaming the streets. Residents are said to be afraid to walk the streets, and non-combatants have been known to be kidnapped or shot. Leaders of Fatah and Hamas are blaming each other for the deterioration.