By all accounts, the limited ceasefire which was far from a total cessation of attacks has ended, and terrorists based in Gaza are working diligently to make this reality clear to residents of the Greater Sderot Area and government officials. To date, Israel’s response to the increasing attacks has been limited surgical strikes against rocket launchers, far from an effective means of halting the attacks.
On Shabbos, at least 17 Kassam rockets and 27 mortar rounds struck southern areas. Residents are truly living in a war zone, unable to carry on any semblance of normal life, having to remain within a 15-second running distance of a shelter.
Cabinet ministers during Sunday morning’s weekly meeting will hear a security briefing and it appears at present, most of the ministers favor a stepped up IDF response but Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) reports Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi remain opposed to such a move at present.
Some intelligence officials believe Israel does not have the luxury of pushing off the inevitable and a military confrontation will take place before the February 10th general elections.
Mrs. Maiya Iba, whose home sustained a direct hit in a Sunday morning attack, explained “I closed my eyes as I heard a really loud blast. When I opened them, I saw smoke everywhere. The house, the second floor is gone. I heard another siren and did not know what to do so I ran outside. The house is gone.” Maiya also explained she does not have a safe room or shelter to run to.
Chaim Perry, the secretary of Kibbutz Nir Oz explained “I feel like a duck in a shooting range. I do not understand. The concept of being on ‘the front line’ is a two-sided concept and its time the Gaza residents understand this.”
The IAF targeted a Kassam launcher in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza on Sunday morning after at least eight rockets fell in the Greater Sderot area by 9:00am. There was also a number of mortar shells fired. One foreign worker was lightly injured in his hand in one attack. Mrs. Iba was also lightly injured.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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One Response
ITS NOT A WAR ZONE!!! A “war” would mean TWO sides are fighting! So, – its NOT a war zone, its a slaughter zone! The pathetic excuses for “leaders” of the medina are so busy kissing up to Washington that they have neither the courage, THE EMUNAH, nor the brains to do what the leader of ANY sane country would do when his land is under attack, – namely (not threaten – that’s a joke already) but DESTROY THE ENEMY!