.PM: This is an escalation of hostilities like none other
Despite an IDF incursion into northern Gaza, a Kassam rocket landed Tuesday night for the first time in the heart of Ashkelon, sending the city's 120,000 residents into a state of fear that their city would be bombarded by rockets like Sderot has since the disengagement last summer.
In a speech at the home of US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones, marking the American Fourth of July holiday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the attack, "an escalation of hostilities like none other."
He said that Israel would not remain silent, and that Hamas would be the first to feel the Israeli response, vowing "far-reaching consequences," for the missile attack.
In response to the attack, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to step up the speed and intensity of Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, launched last Wednesday in an effort to retrieve Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
In response to the attack, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to step up the speed and intensity of Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, launched last Wednesday in an effort to retrieve Cpl. Gilad Shalit. "We intend to achieve the goals of our operations in Gaza," Peretz said, referring to stopping the Kassam rocket fire as well as retrieving the kidnapped IDF soldier.
No one was wounded by the rocket, which landed in a playground of a school in the heart of the Ashkelon residential area. Children playing soccer outside the ORT-Ronson High School on Rehov Ben Zvi were thrown back by the force of the explosion, witnesses reported, but were unharmed. The school suffered some damage. Earlier in the day, four rockets landed in the western Negev without causing any injuries.
Security officials described the Kassam as "upgraded," although featuring only one engine. Southern Police chief Cmdr. Uri Bar-Lev said security forces had seen this type of rocket in the past and called on the residents of Ashkelon to remain calm and to carry on their lives as usual.
Hamas' military wing, Izzadin al-Kassam, claimed responsibility for the attack while claiming that the rocket had been upgraded to achieve a range of over 15 kilometers. Security officials said the rocket was fired from an open area between the former northern Gaza settlements of Nisanit and Dugit.
In the past, Kassams have landed in Ashkelon's periphery, particularly in the industrial zone. But in contrast to Sderot, Ashkelon is not equipped with the Red Dawn early warning system which alerts residents of an incoming rocket.
Spokeswoman for Ashkelon Municipality said that Mayor Roni Mahetzri was encouraging residents to go about their daily lives and vowed that terrorism would not win.
Meanwhile Tuesday, the IDF stepped up its offensive on the Gaza Strip despite the expiration of an ultimatum issued by the kidnappers of Shalit, abducted from his military outpost outside southern Gaza last Sunday. On Monday, several tank squads, bulldozers and infantry companies took up positions in northern Gaza opposite Beit Hanoun. On Tuesday, additional forces were sent into Gaza establishing a battalion-level presence in northern Gaza.
J-Post
In a speech at the home of US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones, marking the American Fourth of July holiday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the attack, "an escalation of hostilities like none other."
He said that Israel would not remain silent, and that Hamas would be the first to feel the Israeli response, vowing "far-reaching consequences," for the missile attack.
In response to the attack, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to step up the speed and intensity of Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, launched last Wednesday in an effort to retrieve Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
In response to the attack, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to step up the speed and intensity of Operation Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, launched last Wednesday in an effort to retrieve Cpl. Gilad Shalit. "We intend to achieve the goals of our operations in Gaza," Peretz said, referring to stopping the Kassam rocket fire as well as retrieving the kidnapped IDF soldier.
No one was wounded by the rocket, which landed in a playground of a school in the heart of the Ashkelon residential area. Children playing soccer outside the ORT-Ronson High School on Rehov Ben Zvi were thrown back by the force of the explosion, witnesses reported, but were unharmed. The school suffered some damage. Earlier in the day, four rockets landed in the western Negev without causing any injuries.
Security officials described the Kassam as "upgraded," although featuring only one engine. Southern Police chief Cmdr. Uri Bar-Lev said security forces had seen this type of rocket in the past and called on the residents of Ashkelon to remain calm and to carry on their lives as usual.
Hamas' military wing, Izzadin al-Kassam, claimed responsibility for the attack while claiming that the rocket had been upgraded to achieve a range of over 15 kilometers. Security officials said the rocket was fired from an open area between the former northern Gaza settlements of Nisanit and Dugit.
In the past, Kassams have landed in Ashkelon's periphery, particularly in the industrial zone. But in contrast to Sderot, Ashkelon is not equipped with the Red Dawn early warning system which alerts residents of an incoming rocket.
Spokeswoman for Ashkelon Municipality said that Mayor Roni Mahetzri was encouraging residents to go about their daily lives and vowed that terrorism would not win.
Meanwhile Tuesday, the IDF stepped up its offensive on the Gaza Strip despite the expiration of an ultimatum issued by the kidnappers of Shalit, abducted from his military outpost outside southern Gaza last Sunday. On Monday, several tank squads, bulldozers and infantry companies took up positions in northern Gaza opposite Beit Hanoun. On Tuesday, additional forces were sent into Gaza establishing a battalion-level presence in northern Gaza.
J-Post
posted by madtom at 2:24 PM
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