Breaking: 5 Kassams shot at Sderot
So much for the 'cease fire.'In addition to a heavy exchange of fire in northern Gaza around 8:00 (an hour and fifteen minutes ago), Israel Radio confirms that five Kassam rockets landed in 'open areas' around Sderot shortly before 9:00 am. No one was hurt and there was no property damage.
So far the only Israeli response has been one artillery shell.
More to follow.
UPDATE 10:19 AM
Arutz Sheva reports that there were six Kassams shot at Sderot (my count of five came from Israel Radio just after 9:00 am - this is a later report) and that three mortars were shot at the Shaar HaNegev region.
The IDF confirmed that terrorists fired on Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza. IDF troops responded with tank and helicopter fire. The terrorists also launched a Kassam rocket attack on the Gaza Belt community of Sderot, located less than a kilometer away from the security barrier. A barrage of six of the short-range rockets exploded in the city at about 9:00 a.m., but all of the missiles landed in open areas. No one was physically injured and no damage was reported.No one seriously expects this 'ceasefire to last.' Not even in Arab countries.
At approximately 9:30 a.m., terrorists fired three mortars at the Sha'ar HaNegev region, striking an agricultural community and reportedly hitting at least one chicken coop.
The IDF had cautioned residents of northern and central Gaza against returning prematurely to their homes, noting there would be a "harsh response" to any violation of the ceasefire. Likewise, Home Front Command on the other side of the security barrier had also prohibited Israeli citizens from sending their children to school within a 40-kilometer (25 mile) radius of Gaza.
“In accordance with the Cabinet decision to accept the Egyptian proposal… the IDF is currently taking the necessary measures to implement the [ceasefire] decision,” said the IDF Spokesman in a statement to the media overnight. Troops will be redeployed “in accordance with security assessments,” and “the forces will be briefed on the specifics of the ceasefire rules of engagement,” he said.
Very few analysts expected the unilateral ceasefire to be "durable" as the United States had hoped, including those in Arab countries.But look at the bright side: 'Hopenchange' is coming to Washington on Tuesday. Excuse me while I puke.
Rami Khouri, director of the Lebanon-based Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut told the Al Jazeera satellite news network, "Israel has tried many unilateral approaches and each one of them has simply made the situation worse for Israel."
UPDATE 10:30 AM
Israel Radio reports that the IAF liquidated the terrorists who shot the rockets at Sderot.
As far as I am concerned, that changes nothing. People are entitled to live their lives without having to worry about rockets raining down on them. Killing the terrorists post facto doesn't make the rockets stop. It encourages more of them to become 'martyrs.'
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:14 AM
5 Comments:
I guess Israel's leaders' idea of a response to the brazen Hamas violations of the self-imposed ceasefire is to do nothing. Very typical behavior. Its back to the same old same old that occurred before the war! "Restraint" lives on with a vengeance.
Israel is not only not taking the offensive, there's a report on good authority from Palestinian sources some IDF tank columns are moving back to Israel.
NormanF,
That report is correct. We've heard reports all day of IDF tank columns pulling back - presumably to more secure positions for the long term.
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Carl, I don't think Israel is going to be packing up and leaving Gaza any time soon. The politicians who lost this war are terrified of explaining to voters why they did not want to win. So ironically, an inconclusive war strengthens the argument for a prolonged IDF presence in Gaza as opposed to the immediate pullout the rest of the world is seeking. More to the point, while Israel was under tremendous pressure not to finish off Hamas, the world's leverage to get Israel to leave Gaza in the near future is very limited. And no one expects Hamas to suddenly become a bunch of pacifists in the next week.
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