Israel launches attacks in Gaza
Source: Agencies |
March 25, 2011, Friday
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ISRAELI aircraft struck the Gaza Strip yesterday in response to militant rocket and mortar attacks, stoking concerns a grave new round of hostilities will fill the vacuum left by an impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
Two years of relative calm have been unraveling in recent weeks with acts of violence against Israelis - including a deadly bombing in Jerusalem on Wednesday that killed an unidentified female British tourist - and Israeli reprisals against Gaza militants, which in one case killed four Palestinian civilians.
Militants operating near the Israeli border sent at least seven rockets and mortars flying at Israeli communities throughout the day, drawing a pair of air attacks. No injuries were reported on either side.
Because of the superiority of Israel's military, its enemies consider hitting Israeli cities the most effective strategy in a war against the Jewish state. At least two rockets this week have landed in Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel.
Israel's inability to halt the rocket fire has drawn public criticism, especially since Tel Aviv has spent an estimated US$200 million developing a system that is meant to shoot down the short-range rockets that militants use. Although officials have promised the Iron Dome is ready to be deployed, it so far hasn't been used in the field.
Home Front Minister Matan Vilnai, who oversees civil defense, refused to discuss the holdup on Israel Radio yesterday.
Israeli security officials have said little about the investigations into Wednesday's bus stop bombing and the knife killings of five members of a family in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank two weeks ago. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said there were gag orders preventing discussion of either probe. He said only that Jerusalem police remained on a heightened state of alert.
The rising wave of violence has been the fiercest since Israel went to war in Hamas-ruled Gaza more than two years ago to try to curb years of frequent rocket attacks.
Two years of relative calm have been unraveling in recent weeks with acts of violence against Israelis - including a deadly bombing in Jerusalem on Wednesday that killed an unidentified female British tourist - and Israeli reprisals against Gaza militants, which in one case killed four Palestinian civilians.
Militants operating near the Israeli border sent at least seven rockets and mortars flying at Israeli communities throughout the day, drawing a pair of air attacks. No injuries were reported on either side.
Because of the superiority of Israel's military, its enemies consider hitting Israeli cities the most effective strategy in a war against the Jewish state. At least two rockets this week have landed in Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel.
Israel's inability to halt the rocket fire has drawn public criticism, especially since Tel Aviv has spent an estimated US$200 million developing a system that is meant to shoot down the short-range rockets that militants use. Although officials have promised the Iron Dome is ready to be deployed, it so far hasn't been used in the field.
Home Front Minister Matan Vilnai, who oversees civil defense, refused to discuss the holdup on Israel Radio yesterday.
Israeli security officials have said little about the investigations into Wednesday's bus stop bombing and the knife killings of five members of a family in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank two weeks ago. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said there were gag orders preventing discussion of either probe. He said only that Jerusalem police remained on a heightened state of alert.
The rising wave of violence has been the fiercest since Israel went to war in Hamas-ruled Gaza more than two years ago to try to curb years of frequent rocket attacks.
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