Israel Matzav

And the rockets' red glare

Good morning from 35,000 feet above flyover country once again. This time I am flying from Chicago to... Boston. I should have better internet access there, but also have a lot of work there....

It's been a year and a half since Operation Pillar of Defense, and for the first time this morning, Hamas is taking responsibility for 16 rockets that were fired from Gaza into Israel. Given that Hamas also kidnapped three Israeli teenagers two and a half weeks ago, Israel Radio reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is finally considering taking action.

The security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, assessed that Hamas had probably launched the barrage in revenge for an Israeli airstrike several hours earlier which killed one person and injured three more.

A member of Hamas’s militant wing was killed in the attack, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said.

While Israel has maintained it holds Hamas responsible for all rocket attacks, officials have said that smaller groups, such as Islamic Jihad, are usually behind the rocket attacks, while Hamas squads generally attempt to thwart the rocket fire.

Hamas hasn’t fired rockets into Israel since Operation Pillar of Defense ended in November 2012, and has yet to take responsibility for this latest barrage.

... 

Officials said Monday’s rocket attacks, which appeared to deliberately target Israeli communities close to the border with the Gaza Strip, may have been intended to warn Israel against targeting Hamas operatives.

The army said in a statement that the Sunday night air raid was targeting terrorists “in the southern Gaza Strip, during​ their final preparations to launch rockets at civilian communities of southern Israel.”

“Hamas is responsible for the outrageous attacks originating from Gaza, and will be pursued as such,” IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said.

The air force attack on Khan Younis Sunday night came minutes after Palestinians in the coastal enclave fired a volley of rockets at southwestern Israel. The Iron Dome defense system shot down two of the projectiles — Grad rockets — over Netivot. There were no reports of injury or damage in the rocket attack.

Early Sunday morning, air force planes struck 12 sites in Gaza in response to rockets fired over the weekend. Two rockets hit the town of Sderot, close to the border with Gaza, late Saturday, causing a massive fire that destroyed a paint factory

  Stay tuned. This could be a long week.

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Hamas rockets, IAF, Operation Pillar of Defense, Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:22 PM