On Wednesday night, a Kassam rocket landed near a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council area. Baruch Hashem, there were no injuries.
 
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak stated Israel would retaliate for the Tuesday morning bomb attack against an IDF patrol along the Gaza border in which a soldier was killed, an officer seriously wounded and two other soldiers lightly wounded.
 
Shortly after the Wednesday night rocket attack, Eshkol Council head Chaim Yellin stated the government must respond, warning a policy of restraint will have an adverse effect.
 
Later in the night, Olmert, Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni convened and approved the retaliatory air strike in the Rafiach area.
 
Shortly after midnight (Wednesday to Thursday) the IAF went into action striking what the IDF spokesman reports was a weapons manufacturing facility in the Rafiach area of Gaza. The army went on to state the Government of Israel views Hamas responsible for halting all attacks from Gaza.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)