Palestinian militants fired a rocket aimed at Jerusalem on Friday, setting off air raid sirens throughout the city and opening a new front in three days of fierce fighting between Israel and armed groups in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli campaign has been limited to airstrikes so far. But military officials say they are considering expanding it to a ground campaign.
Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman, said the military had called 16,000 reservists to duty on Friday as it geared up for a possible ground offensive.
She said the army had authority to draft an additional 14,000 soldiers. She would not say where the troops were deployed.
As air-raid sirens went off in Jerusalem, witnesses said they saw a stream of smoke in Mevasseret Zion, a Jerusalem suburb.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the rocket landed in an open area near Gush Ezion, a collection of Jewish settlements in the West Bank southeast of the city.
An attack on Israel’s self-declared capital marks a major escalation by Gaza militants, both for its symbolism and its distance from the Palestinian territory. Located roughly 75 kilometers (50 miles) away from the Gaza border, Jerusalem had been thought to be beyond the range of Gaza rocket squads.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Hamas militant wing, said the group had fired a long-range rocket at Jerusalem.
“We are sending a short and simple message: There is no security for any Zionist on any single inch of Palestine and we plan more surprises,” he said. Hamas officials said the rocket was a homemade “M-75” rocket, a weapon that has never been fired before.
It also marks a bit of a gamble for the militants. Gush Ezion is close to the Palestinian city of Bethlehem and just a few kilometers (miles) from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in Jerusalem and nearby areas of the West Bank.
Militants already have fired rockets into the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv, another unprecedented achievement, on Thursday. The rocket attacks have not hurt anyone in the bustling metropolis, but have caused panic and jitters.
Just a few years ago, Palestinian rockets were limited to crude, homemade devices manufactured in Gaza. But in recent years, Hamas and other armed groups have smuggled in sophisticated, longer-range rockets from Iran and Libya, which has been flush with weapons since Moammar Gadhafi was ousted last year. Most of the rockets do not have guided systems, limiting their accuracy, though Israeli officials believe the militants may have a small number of guided missiles that have not yet been deployed.
(AP)
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8 Responses
First of all, may their rockets ONLY hit arabs and muslims, iy”h. Second, I hope the Israelis will finally play hard ball and hit some of their villages and towns, and who cares who gets hit. Third of all, or maybe first of all, I hope they realize they have only Hashem Yisborach to turn to!
They don’t worry about killing Moslim arabs since life has very little value in their culture.
On Friday prayer day, Hamas shoots a home-made missile such lacking in accuracy that it could hit the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem. Muslims are the most killed by terrorists, well more than anyone else. I will never understand why the sensible voices in the Arab world are never heard, condemning such terrorist organizations.
Yasher Koach once again to YWN for the most up to the minute coverage of what’s happening to our brothers. I understand that once Shabbos starts there, you have to rely on treif news sources likes Reuters and AP, but please review what they say before publishing them. If you don’t you end up furthering their calumny. In this piece, you’ll note they refer to Yerushalayim as “Israel’s self-declared capital.” This furthers the campaign to delegitimize the status of Yerushalayim. It’s like ‘militants’ and ‘occupied territories.’ This one is especially bad because if there is one capital city in the world that’s NOT self-declared, it’s Yerushalyim!
What a great opportunity to blow up the al-aqsa mosque to smitherines and make it look like a hamas accident.
Did they annonce they were aiming at Jerusalem BEFORE they fired?
Is it not possible they were aiming at the Gush Etzion settlements?
Is it not possible they were aiming at Tel Aviv and missed?
Unfortunately “Israel” will do NOTHING in retaliation! Even if a rocket were to hit the dysfunctional Knesset building, nothing would happen! They (the Government) are a bunch of Leftists, defeatests! If things get really rough, they’ll just make a “yerida” & escape to Thailand or Key West! They have NO emunah & Bitachon! They don’t follow Daas Torah! They are completely lost! Is shtiet in seforim that the “Medina” has to fall before the ultimate Geula can come. We are seeing this unfold before our very eyes. May HKB”H protect Klal Yisroel from all Tzaros!
I understand this article is from the AP, but “militants”? You can’t change the words and write what they really are?