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1. 2 Arrested in Jenin for Deadly Jerusalem Bus-Stop Bomb
by Chana Ya'ar
Israeli security forces may be closing in on the terrorists who bombed a crowded bus stop area Wednesday afternoon in Jerusalem.
Sources in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization claimed that two of its members were arrested Wednesday night in connection with the blast.
Khaled Jaradat and Tarek Ka'adan were picked up in Jenin by Palestinian Authority security forces said to have been working in coordination with Israeli security personnel.
There was no comment from IDF officials.
Other Attacks
Islamic Jihad's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for two Grad Katyusha missile attacks on Be'er Sheva that struck the southern city Wednesday morning.
Islamic Jihad also claimed responsibility for a third Grad missile that struck the southern end of Ashdod on Tuesday night. It was the first such long-range missile to strike the port city since Israel's Cast Lead mini-war with Gaza's terrorist rulers two years ago.
One 56-year-old woman, a British tourist, died of wounds sustained in the Jerusalem bombing, and some 50 others were injured.
The blast tore holes through the windows in the front half of a massive Egged city bus that was just pulling away from a stop next to a telephone stand. The bomb was planted in a briefcase that was left beside the phone stand.
Eyewitnesses said they saw a young man place the briefcase beside the phones and then leave the area. At least one of the witnesses made a phone call to alert security personnel who immediately blocked others from approaching the scene, thereby saving numerous lives.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
Israeli security forces may be closing in on the terrorists who bombed a crowded bus stop area Wednesday afternoon in Jerusalem.
Sources in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization claimed that two of its members were arrested Wednesday night in connection with the blast.
Khaled Jaradat and Tarek Ka'adan were picked up in Jenin by Palestinian Authority security forces said to have been working in coordination with Israeli security personnel.
There was no comment from IDF officials.
Other Attacks
Islamic Jihad's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for two Grad Katyusha missile attacks on Be'er Sheva that struck the southern city Wednesday morning.
Islamic Jihad also claimed responsibility for a third Grad missile that struck the southern end of Ashdod on Tuesday night. It was the first such long-range missile to strike the port city since Israel's Cast Lead mini-war with Gaza's terrorist rulers two years ago.
One 56-year-old woman, a British tourist, died of wounds sustained in the Jerusalem bombing, and some 50 others were injured.
The blast tore holes through the windows in the front half of a massive Egged city bus that was just pulling away from a stop next to a telephone stand. The bomb was planted in a briefcase that was left beside the phone stand.
Eyewitnesses said they saw a young man place the briefcase beside the phones and then leave the area. At least one of the witnesses made a phone call to alert security personnel who immediately blocked others from approaching the scene, thereby saving numerous lives.
Comment on this story
2. Photo Essay: Aftermath of Jerusalem Bombing
by Ben Bresky
By Wednesday evening the rain-slicked streets of Jerusalem felt almost like normal, with traffic flowing as if nothing had happened that afternoon. At the busy bus stop in-between the Jerusalem Central Bus Station and Binyanei HaUmah (Jerusalem International Convention Center), passers-by inspect the charred public phone where the nondescript package was placed.
The phone still hangs off the hook, and two memorial candles sit nearby for the British tourist who was killed and the approximately 50 people who were wounded. A stranger re-lights one candle that has gone out. The bus #74 line was running normally through downtown Jerusalem when it suffered a large hole in the side by the bomb's force.
Passers-by inspect the public phone where the bomb, disguised as a normal bag, was placed.
The "Pitzutz Shel Kiosk" (Blast of a Kiosk) stand, where sandwiches and drinks are sold. It received its name after suffering a previous terrorist attack in the same place in 1994. The owner Shimshon Moshe and his brother-in-law David Amuyav called the police when they saw the suspicious package and called for people to get out of the way seconds before it exploded.
The phone on the other side of the stand still dangles off the hook as people look to see where the bombing happened. The clear plastic canopy over the phone has been blown off.
The police "Do Not Cross" tape has been taken down and the blood has been cleaned up as people wait for the bus at the same stop where the attack occurred.
A young man re-lights one of the memorial candles placed next to the bombing site that has gone out in the rainy evening . As of Thursday afternoon, the name of the British woman killed in the blast has yet to be released.
Photos by Ben Bresky, Israel National News.
Comment on this story
by Ben Bresky
By Wednesday evening the rain-slicked streets of Jerusalem felt almost like normal, with traffic flowing as if nothing had happened that afternoon. At the busy bus stop in-between the Jerusalem Central Bus Station and Binyanei HaUmah (Jerusalem International Convention Center), passers-by inspect the charred public phone where the nondescript package was placed.
The phone still hangs off the hook, and two memorial candles sit nearby for the British tourist who was killed and the approximately 50 people who were wounded. A stranger re-lights one candle that has gone out. The bus #74 line was running normally through downtown Jerusalem when it suffered a large hole in the side by the bomb's force.
Passers-by inspect the public phone where the bomb, disguised as a normal bag, was placed.
The "Pitzutz Shel Kiosk" (Blast of a Kiosk) stand, where sandwiches and drinks are sold. It received its name after suffering a previous terrorist attack in the same place in 1994. The owner Shimshon Moshe and his brother-in-law David Amuyav called the police when they saw the suspicious package and called for people to get out of the way seconds before it exploded.
The phone on the other side of the stand still dangles off the hook as people look to see where the bombing happened. The clear plastic canopy over the phone has been blown off.
The police "Do Not Cross" tape has been taken down and the blood has been cleaned up as people wait for the bus at the same stop where the attack occurred.
A young man re-lights one of the memorial candles placed next to the bombing site that has gone out in the rainy evening . As of Thursday afternoon, the name of the British woman killed in the blast has yet to be released.
Photos by Ben Bresky, Israel National News.
Comment on this story
3. Netanyahu in Moscow
by Hillel Fendel
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is in Moscow today (Thursday) on a one-day official visit. The trip was postponed for several hours last night, following the murderous Palestinian terrorist bombing in Jerusalem.
During the 24-hour visit, Netanyahu will meet President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Before his departure, Netanyahu said he planned to discuss with them “a series of bilateral and regional issues, as well as the quest for a peace process with security and issues that are very important for Israel's security.”
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, who has presided over the naming of streets and public squares in honor of Palestinian terrorists, left Moscow just yesterday following his own official visit.
The Kremlin, for its part, urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority not to “let the peace process fall victim to surging turmoil at home and in the region.” The Kremlin invited both leaders for talks just three weeks ahead of a key Quartet summit meeting, involving the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The meeting is scheduled to happen in Berlin on April 15.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu said the two sides - Israel and the PA - were further apart than ever, and blamed the PA for refusing to sit down at a negotiating table and talk.
The Voice of Russia international broadcasting network linked Israel’s building of homes with the revolutionary fever sweeping the Middle East. It reported yesterday that Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko had suggested that Israel could “freeze the construction of Jewish homes in the occupied Arab lands [sic] following mass unrest and revolutionary upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa.”
The report further noted that “settlement building is a key obstacle to direct contacts between Israel and the Palestinians.” It was not updated to make mention of the murderous Palestinian terrorist bombing in Jerusalem that afternoon.
During his visit, Netanyahu is also expected to raise the issues of Iran's nuclear program and a recent Russian recent pledge to sell advanced cruise missiles to Syria. Not only is Israel technically at war with Syria, but the Syria-Iran-Hizbullah triangle is of great concern to Israel.
This is Netanyahu's third trip to Moscow since taking office two years ago, including a secret visit in September 2009.
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is in Moscow today (Thursday) on a one-day official visit. The trip was postponed for several hours last night, following the murderous Palestinian terrorist bombing in Jerusalem.
During the 24-hour visit, Netanyahu will meet President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Before his departure, Netanyahu said he planned to discuss with them “a series of bilateral and regional issues, as well as the quest for a peace process with security and issues that are very important for Israel's security.”
PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, who has presided over the naming of streets and public squares in honor of Palestinian terrorists, left Moscow just yesterday following his own official visit.
The Kremlin, for its part, urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority not to “let the peace process fall victim to surging turmoil at home and in the region.” The Kremlin invited both leaders for talks just three weeks ahead of a key Quartet summit meeting, involving the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The meeting is scheduled to happen in Berlin on April 15.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu said the two sides - Israel and the PA - were further apart than ever, and blamed the PA for refusing to sit down at a negotiating table and talk.
The Voice of Russia international broadcasting network linked Israel’s building of homes with the revolutionary fever sweeping the Middle East. It reported yesterday that Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko had suggested that Israel could “freeze the construction of Jewish homes in the occupied Arab lands [sic] following mass unrest and revolutionary upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa.”
The report further noted that “settlement building is a key obstacle to direct contacts between Israel and the Palestinians.” It was not updated to make mention of the murderous Palestinian terrorist bombing in Jerusalem that afternoon.
During his visit, Netanyahu is also expected to raise the issues of Iran's nuclear program and a recent Russian recent pledge to sell advanced cruise missiles to Syria. Not only is Israel technically at war with Syria, but the Syria-Iran-Hizbullah triangle is of great concern to Israel.
This is Netanyahu's third trip to Moscow since taking office two years ago, including a secret visit in September 2009.
Comment on this story
4. S. African University Cuts Ties with Ben Gurion University
by Hana Levi Julian, MSW
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has severed all scientific ties with Israel's Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).
The two universities had enjoyed a close relationship since the 1980s. But in a stunning reversal, the UJ Senate announced Wednesday night it would terminate an agreement signed last August between the two institutions.
In September, BGU was ordered by UJ to include a Palestinian Authority university as a partner in its research, or the South African university would abandon the agreement. But BGU, by no fault of its own, was unable to do so.
“BGU resoundingly failed to meet this condition, as well as the other criteria set by the Senate resolution, owing to the unanimous and principled support by all Palestinian universities to refuse to entertain any links with BGU on the grounds of that university's complicity in Israeli apartheid,” said Palestine Solidarity Alliance spokesperson Nurina Ally.
A significant percentage of BGU's student population is comprised of Bedouin Arabs, and the institution was the first in the world to appoint a Bedouin, Professor Alean al-Krenawi, as chairperson of its Department of Social Work Studies. Moreover, BGU is the first institution in the world to have awarded a PhD to a Bedouin woman. Professor Sarab Abu Rabia-Queder has continued her research and since become a lecturer at the university as well.
“Detailed evidence was placed before the Senate showing clearly BGU's active restriction and violation of political and academic freedom,” claimed Ally, “its direct and deliberate collaboration with the Israeli Defense Forces [an occupying military force in flagrant violation of international law], and its maintenance of policies and practices that further entrench the discriminatory policies of the Israeli state.”
UJ spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said the vote had been carried out by a secret ballot.
The hotly debated vote was unusual in an academic environment in which members usually express their views with a show of hands. It followed a petition by the South African university last year that called on lecturers and students to cut ties with BGU, the Mail & Guardian reported.
More than 400 academics, including nine vice-chancellors and deputy vice-chancellors joined the university's campaign to delegitimize Israel.
according to the report.
Comment on this story
by Hana Levi Julian, MSW
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) has severed all scientific ties with Israel's Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).
The two universities had enjoyed a close relationship since the 1980s. But in a stunning reversal, the UJ Senate announced Wednesday night it would terminate an agreement signed last August between the two institutions.
In September, BGU was ordered by UJ to include a Palestinian Authority university as a partner in its research, or the South African university would abandon the agreement. But BGU, by no fault of its own, was unable to do so.
“BGU resoundingly failed to meet this condition, as well as the other criteria set by the Senate resolution, owing to the unanimous and principled support by all Palestinian universities to refuse to entertain any links with BGU on the grounds of that university's complicity in Israeli apartheid,” said Palestine Solidarity Alliance spokesperson Nurina Ally.
A significant percentage of BGU's student population is comprised of Bedouin Arabs, and the institution was the first in the world to appoint a Bedouin, Professor Alean al-Krenawi, as chairperson of its Department of Social Work Studies. Moreover, BGU is the first institution in the world to have awarded a PhD to a Bedouin woman. Professor Sarab Abu Rabia-Queder has continued her research and since become a lecturer at the university as well.
“Detailed evidence was placed before the Senate showing clearly BGU's active restriction and violation of political and academic freedom,” claimed Ally, “its direct and deliberate collaboration with the Israeli Defense Forces [an occupying military force in flagrant violation of international law], and its maintenance of policies and practices that further entrench the discriminatory policies of the Israeli state.”
UJ spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said the vote had been carried out by a secret ballot.
The hotly debated vote was unusual in an academic environment in which members usually express their views with a show of hands. It followed a petition by the South African university last year that called on lecturers and students to cut ties with BGU, the Mail & Guardian reported.
More than 400 academics, including nine vice-chancellors and deputy vice-chancellors joined the university's campaign to delegitimize Israel.
according to the report.
Comment on this story
5. Hamas Says It Wants Calm; 15 More Shells Hit Israel
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas stated Wednesday evening that it wants to “restore calm” and indicated it is backing off from escalation in attacks as Israel makes it clear it will not tolerate terror.
Gaza-based terrorists fired 15 mortar shells at western Negev farming areas during the day, causing property damage but no injuries. The IDF has not yet retaliated for the latest barrage.
The de facto Hamas government in Gaza stated, "We stress that our constant position in the government is to protect stability and to work in order to restore the conditions on ground that used to be dominant in previous weeks.”
The statement was milder than Hamas position two days ago, when it demanded that Israel declare a ceasefire in return for restoration of quiet. However, Islamic Jihad terrorists threatened to continue the escalation of attacks, which have struck Be’er Sheva and south of Ashdod, increasing the chance of another all-out retaliation similar to the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign two years ago.
Amos Gilad, senior Defense Ministry adviser, said Wednesday night that Hamas will be making a “dramatic mistake” if it does not halt the rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers.
He also said that Hamas is inspired and encouraged by the recent uprisings in the Arab world.
Gilad said, “it is the responsibility of any government to protect civilians,” and that Israel will continue to do so.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, prior to leaving Wednesday night for a meeting with top officials in Moscow, stated, “We have set a clear policy on security, the essence of which is a vigorous response to any attempt to harm Israeli citizens, and systematic and assertive preventive measures against terrorism.”
He said that elements that have tried to violate the relative quiet since the end of Cast Lead. “They are trying to test our resolve and the fortitude of our people,” the Prime Minister continued. “They will learn that the government, the IDF and the Israeli public have an iron will to defend the state and its citizens.”
Concerning his trip to Russia, he said he “will discuss with them a series of bilateral and regional issues, as well as the search for a peace process with security and issues that are very important for Israel's security.”
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas stated Wednesday evening that it wants to “restore calm” and indicated it is backing off from escalation in attacks as Israel makes it clear it will not tolerate terror.
Gaza-based terrorists fired 15 mortar shells at western Negev farming areas during the day, causing property damage but no injuries. The IDF has not yet retaliated for the latest barrage.
The de facto Hamas government in Gaza stated, "We stress that our constant position in the government is to protect stability and to work in order to restore the conditions on ground that used to be dominant in previous weeks.”
The statement was milder than Hamas position two days ago, when it demanded that Israel declare a ceasefire in return for restoration of quiet. However, Islamic Jihad terrorists threatened to continue the escalation of attacks, which have struck Be’er Sheva and south of Ashdod, increasing the chance of another all-out retaliation similar to the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign two years ago.
Amos Gilad, senior Defense Ministry adviser, said Wednesday night that Hamas will be making a “dramatic mistake” if it does not halt the rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers.
He also said that Hamas is inspired and encouraged by the recent uprisings in the Arab world.
Gilad said, “it is the responsibility of any government to protect civilians,” and that Israel will continue to do so.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, prior to leaving Wednesday night for a meeting with top officials in Moscow, stated, “We have set a clear policy on security, the essence of which is a vigorous response to any attempt to harm Israeli citizens, and systematic and assertive preventive measures against terrorism.”
He said that elements that have tried to violate the relative quiet since the end of Cast Lead. “They are trying to test our resolve and the fortitude of our people,” the Prime Minister continued. “They will learn that the government, the IDF and the Israeli public have an iron will to defend the state and its citizens.”
Concerning his trip to Russia, he said he “will discuss with them a series of bilateral and regional issues, as well as the search for a peace process with security and issues that are very important for Israel's security.”
Comment on this story
6. Friends of IDF Holds its Annual Gala in NYC
by Elad Benari
Normally, when a television crew is summoned to an IDF base at 3:00am to film the Chief of Staff, it means that another weapons ship has been captured or a secret operation took place.
It was a whole different story, however, on Tuesday night, when the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) held its annual fundraising gala at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
The event was attended by over 1,400 guests from around the United States and Israel, including businessmen, social leaders and military men. The evening was particularly special this year, as the FIDF celebrated its 30th anniversary. In recognition and appreciation for the organization's long-standing contribution and the significant change it makes in the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and their families, all the former IDF Chiefs of Staff came to salute and honor the donors: Gabi Ashkenazi, Dan Halutz, MK Moshe Ya'alon, MK Shaul Mofaz, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Also in attendance were Military Attaché in Washington Major General Gadi Shamni, the Head of the IDF's Personnel Directorate Major General Avi Zamir, IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Avi Benayahu, FIDF chairman Arthur Stark, and International Fellowship of Christians and Jews president Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.
The one person who was unable to attend the special evening was current IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, since standard operating procedures state that there will never be a situation where both the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff are out of the country at the same time.
However, in order to allow Gantz to take part in the event and address attendees, a film crew belonging to Jerusalem Capital Studios (JCS) traveled to the Palmahim Air Force base at 3:00am Israel time (9:00pm EDT), where it filmed Gantz’s address to the FIDF gala and then transmitted it via satellite directly to the Waldorf Astoria.
JCS CEO Hanani Rapoport thanked FIDF for their cooperation during the past 13 years, adding that JCS is proud to be part of such an evening. “JCS, who meets the army during war, was very glad to see the army in an evening such as this,” said Rapoport.
All in all, FIDF collected more than $23 million for IDF soldiers during the fundraising gala.
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari
Normally, when a television crew is summoned to an IDF base at 3:00am to film the Chief of Staff, it means that another weapons ship has been captured or a secret operation took place.
It was a whole different story, however, on Tuesday night, when the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) held its annual fundraising gala at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
The event was attended by over 1,400 guests from around the United States and Israel, including businessmen, social leaders and military men. The evening was particularly special this year, as the FIDF celebrated its 30th anniversary. In recognition and appreciation for the organization's long-standing contribution and the significant change it makes in the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and their families, all the former IDF Chiefs of Staff came to salute and honor the donors: Gabi Ashkenazi, Dan Halutz, MK Moshe Ya'alon, MK Shaul Mofaz, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Also in attendance were Military Attaché in Washington Major General Gadi Shamni, the Head of the IDF's Personnel Directorate Major General Avi Zamir, IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Avi Benayahu, FIDF chairman Arthur Stark, and International Fellowship of Christians and Jews president Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.
The one person who was unable to attend the special evening was current IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, since standard operating procedures state that there will never be a situation where both the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff are out of the country at the same time.
However, in order to allow Gantz to take part in the event and address attendees, a film crew belonging to Jerusalem Capital Studios (JCS) traveled to the Palmahim Air Force base at 3:00am Israel time (9:00pm EDT), where it filmed Gantz’s address to the FIDF gala and then transmitted it via satellite directly to the Waldorf Astoria.
JCS CEO Hanani Rapoport thanked FIDF for their cooperation during the past 13 years, adding that JCS is proud to be part of such an evening. “JCS, who meets the army during war, was very glad to see the army in an evening such as this,” said Rapoport.
All in all, FIDF collected more than $23 million for IDF soldiers during the fundraising gala.
Comment on this story
7. Mayor Barkat: ‘We Won’t Let Terror Harm Regular Life’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu and Hezki Ezra
“When terror attempts to disrupt our way of life, the best solution is to get back to normal as quickly as possible,” Jerusalem Mayor Barkat said after Wednesday‘s terrorist bomb attack that killed one woman and wounded 50 others.
"It's important to return to our regular routines as quickly as possible… Events in Jerusalem will not be cancelled and Jerusalem will not stop running,” he said. The annual Jerusalem Marathon will take place on Friday as scheduled.
At least one of the injured is an American studying at a seminary in Jeursalem. She underwent surgery Wednesday evening, and people are requested to recite Psalms for Leah Brachah Bas Shoshana Basya.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu and Hezki Ezra
“When terror attempts to disrupt our way of life, the best solution is to get back to normal as quickly as possible,” Jerusalem Mayor Barkat said after Wednesday‘s terrorist bomb attack that killed one woman and wounded 50 others.
"It's important to return to our regular routines as quickly as possible… Events in Jerusalem will not be cancelled and Jerusalem will not stop running,” he said. The annual Jerusalem Marathon will take place on Friday as scheduled.
At least one of the injured is an American studying at a seminary in Jeursalem. She underwent surgery Wednesday evening, and people are requested to recite Psalms for Leah Brachah Bas Shoshana Basya.
Comment on this story
8. IAF Confirms Hits on Hamas Targets
by Hillel Fendel
Security alerts are high on both the southern front and in Jerusalem. Police in the capital have raised their level of alert, following yesterday’s terrorist bombing near the Central Bus Station that killed a British tourist.
In the south, Hamas terrorists continue to fire rockets at Israel. A Kassam exploded south of Ashkelon around 8:00 this morning, following a rocket fired overnight towards the Eshkol region; no one was hurt or damage caused in either attack.
In response to the ongoing rocket fire, Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip and a terror activity site in northern Gaza. The army reported direct hits.
Just in the past four days alone, over 25 rockets and mortar shells have hit Israeli territory, including five Grad rockets fired at the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Be’er Sheva. As a result, schools in those three cities are closed. This is official city policy in Ashdod and Be’er Sheva, while in Ashkelon, the closings were a Municipal Parents Committee decision, made contrary to official city policy.
Minutes before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu boarded the plane last night on his way to an official visit to Moscow, he said, “The government has set a clear security policy – a policy of both attacking and preventive measures against terrorism. We have had two years of quiet because of this policy, and the citizens of Israel were able to walk around without fear. There are those who are trying to end this quiet and test our determination, and they will find that the Israeli government, army and public have an iron will as well as the ability to defend ourselves. We will act with force and responsibility to restore the quiet that we have had for the past two years.”
Netanyahu became Prime Minister almost exactly two years ago, on Mar. 31, 2009.
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Security alerts are high on both the southern front and in Jerusalem. Police in the capital have raised their level of alert, following yesterday’s terrorist bombing near the Central Bus Station that killed a British tourist.
In the south, Hamas terrorists continue to fire rockets at Israel. A Kassam exploded south of Ashkelon around 8:00 this morning, following a rocket fired overnight towards the Eshkol region; no one was hurt or damage caused in either attack.
In response to the ongoing rocket fire, Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip and a terror activity site in northern Gaza. The army reported direct hits.
Just in the past four days alone, over 25 rockets and mortar shells have hit Israeli territory, including five Grad rockets fired at the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Be’er Sheva. As a result, schools in those three cities are closed. This is official city policy in Ashdod and Be’er Sheva, while in Ashkelon, the closings were a Municipal Parents Committee decision, made contrary to official city policy.
Minutes before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu boarded the plane last night on his way to an official visit to Moscow, he said, “The government has set a clear security policy – a policy of both attacking and preventive measures against terrorism. We have had two years of quiet because of this policy, and the citizens of Israel were able to walk around without fear. There are those who are trying to end this quiet and test our determination, and they will find that the Israeli government, army and public have an iron will as well as the ability to defend ourselves. We will act with force and responsibility to restore the quiet that we have had for the past two years.”
Netanyahu became Prime Minister almost exactly two years ago, on Mar. 31, 2009.
Comment on this story
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