Kassam Hits 'Strategic Facility' in Ashkelon
There are still people out there who think that the unilateralJust before noon (about an hour ago) a Kassam rocket hit a 'strategic facility' in Ashkelon. None of the Israeli papers will tell you what facility was hit, because the military censors don't allow them to tell you. The JPost doesn't even mention that the facility was hit, while HaAretz gives it one sentence and then goes on to tell us how the IDF killed a Palestinian in Shchem.
The world's wire services don't mention that Kassams were shot - not that I would expect them to mention it.
But YNet and Arutz Sheva both have lengthier articles. Arutz Sheva gives a list of the strategic facilities that are located in the area:
National infrastructures in Ashkelon include the following:Arutz Sheva also reports that two workers were treated for shock after the attack.
* The Rotenberg Power Plant in southern Ashkelon is Israel's second-largest electric station, and supplies about a quarter of the country's electricity.
* The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline company (EAPC) in Ashkelon operates three oil pipelines linking Ashkelon with Eilat, Ashdod and Haifa.
* The Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant, the largest desalination plant of its kind in the world, is set to ultimately provide an annual 100 million cubic meters of water, or some 15% of the country's domestic consumer demand. It commenced initial production in August 2005, and began operations at a third of its full capacity.
YNet reports that one person was injured and that the facility suffered damage. They also give the following account:
Workers said that panic broke out in the facility although they have already gotten used to the rocket fire.
"We again heard a strong explosion and saw the smoke. The alarm went off and all the employees were asked to enter reinforced rooms. This time the rocket fell in much more internal area, and we are under the impression that they are improving their rockets all the time. They have already managed to reach new places," an employee said.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz recently agreed to connect all the factories in the area to the Red Dawn alert system through beepers. The alarm system did go off this time. Police and security forces were dispatched to the area.
I'm going to guess it was the power plant, b ecause that's the facility that's most frequently mentioned as being in range. And for those of you who think that this will get the IDF to do something effectivel in Gaza (or rather, will get the government to allow the IDF to do something effective in Gaza), think again. After the previous attacks, we have been told that the IDF was bombing "Kassam launching sites" (which are empty fields!). If you think that's solving the problem, have a look at this JPost article from Wednesday, which indicates that
Heavy IDF artillery barrages on unpopulated areas in the northern Gaza Strip may hamper terrorists' movements, but efforts by the army to avoid harming innocent civilians often means that those firing Kassam rockets are able to escape unharmed, a senior Artillery Corps officer told The Jerusalem Post. [In other words, we're still using the same kind of 'strategies' that got 23 IDF soldiers killed in Jenin and still got us accused of a 'massacre.' CiJ]
The Post adds:
While other officers admitted that more aggressive action would need to be taken to bring a complete halt to the rocket fire, they rejected suggestions that the army's hands were tied or restrained by current government policy. "We have at our disposal an array of options. The ongoing battle against the Kassam rockets consists of a combination of artillery, intelligence and air power," one of the officers said. Defense Ministry sources noted that while Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered the army to escalate its response, a widespread ground offensive in Gaza is not on the agenda.
Now do you understand what's at stake on March 28?
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:14 PM
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