- 16 aug 2011
Rocket explodes near Beersheba; no injuries
Siren sounded in southern city before grad rocket hits open area outside Beersheba.
A grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in an open area outside Beersheba on Monday. No injuries or damage were reported.
Many residents rushed to shelters as a siren sounded throughout the city.
The rocket exploded as members of the Trachtenberg Committee were visiting Beersheba's social protest tent site. Protesters were forced to flee the site in order to take cover at a nearby educational center as the siren blared.
Menachem Yidov, from the nearby town of Meitar took cover with his family under a concrete ceiling in his house for lack of a proper fortified space. "My kids were running around, it was a bit tense. Two minutes later three blasts were heard from afar," he said.
Following the explosion, Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovitch said that he plans to ask Defense Minister Ehud Barak to redeploy an Iron Dome battery in the city.
Last Thursday, a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded near a kibbutz in the Shaar HaNegev regional council.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4109326,00.html 20 jan 2012, 13:29 , Respect -
PRC: 2 rockets fired at Asheklon
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility Thursday for launching two rockets toward the coastal city of Ashkelon, after airstrikes killed five PRC members.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414255
PRC warns Israel after deadly airstrikes
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Popular Resistance Committees warned Israel on Thursday saying it had opened fire First and would be the one responsible for "all the consequences of its crimes."
Spokesman Abu Mujahed's warning came after airstrikes killed six Palestinians including five members of the PRC in Rafah, southern Gaza after a series of deadly attacks killed seven Israelis in Eilat.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414228
Hamas: We didn't carry out southern Israel attacks, but we praise them
Senior Hamas official warns that the group and the Palestinian people will not 'stand idly by if the enemy attacks.'
The Islamist Hamas movement on Thursday welcomed a series of deadly attacks in southern Israel earlier in the day, but declined to take responsibility for them.
"I don't think Hamas is behind these attacks, but we praise them since they were against soldiers," said Ahmed Yousef, a senior member of the organization, which has been in power in Gaza since seizing control in 2007.
No Palestinian group has yet taken responsibility for the attacks.
In response to Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s claim that Gaza should be held responsible for Thursday's terror attacks, Hamas leader Salah al-Bardawil stated that his party and the Palestinian people are not afraid of “Zionist threats” and will not “stand idly by if the enemy attacks”.
Meanwhile, Hamas has called for an evacuation of the party's headquarters in Gaza, fearing an IDF military response to the terror attack.
http://fwd4.me/09Nj 20 jan 2012, 13:30 , Respect -
Maria 19 aug 2011
Ten Zionists injured in rocket attack
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The IOF has announced on Friday morning that ten Israelis were injured as a result of a rocket which fell on the city of Asdod in 1948- occupied Palestine.
Israeli media said that a rocket hit a building in Asdod injuring ten people, one of them seriously.
Israeli radio said that ten rockets fell on Askalan, Beersheba and Keryat Gat, with most of them falling in open areas causing no damage.
On Thursday, the Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said that they fired two Grad missiles at Askalan as an initial retaliation to the assassination of its leaders on Thursday by the Israeli occupation.
Yedot Ahronot, on Thursday, confirmed that three missiles fell on Askalan without causing any casualties.
http://fwd4.me/09RF
5 additional rockets fired at Israel
Terrorists renew fire after attack which injured 10 in Ashdod: Four rockets explode in Be'er Tuvia, Eshkol, and Sdot Negev regional councils, additional rocket hits Ashdod. Residents of local towns report hearing rocket alerts, loud explosions.
Fire from Gaza was renewed Friday afternoon when terrorists fired five rockets at various locations in southern Israel, hitting Be'er Tuvia, Eshkol, and Sdot Negev regional councils, as well as Ashdod. No injuries or damage were reported.
Altogether 14 rockets exploded in Israel Friday.
Palestinian sources in Gaza reported, meanwhile, that the IDF bombed a terror cell in the Gaza City neighborhood in Zeitun. A 22-year old gunman was killed, according to reports, and another was injured.
At around 4 pm, residents of Kiryat Malachi, Gedera, Gan Yavne, and other towns nearby reported hearing rocket alerts followed by explosions. Two Grad rockets exploded in open spaces in the area.
About an hour later a Qassam rocket was fired from Gaza and exploded in Eshkol Regional Council, and at around 6:20 pm two rockets were fired, one hitting Ashdod and the other exploding in Sdot Negev Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.
Effie, a resident of Kiryat Malachi, told Ynet, "I was taking the trash out and there was an alarm. I heard a very loud boom. I realized a rocket must have fallen in the area."
The rockets followed two others, which were fired at Be'er Tuvia on Friday morning. The head of the regional council, Dror Shor, said he had noticed farmers in the area did not respond quickly enough to rocket alerts.
"It was fortunate the rockets fell in open spaces, but it could have ended differently," he said.
Terrorists pelted Israel with rockets throughout the day Friday. A rocket fired at Ashdod at dawn exploded in the courtyard of a haredi yeshiva and left 10 people injured. Magen David Adom emergency services said two men were seriously injured.
Before dawn Palestinian sources reported the Air Force had launched a wave of assaults in Gaza, targeting numerous sites within the Strip in the wake of a terror offensive in southern Israel that left eight people dead Thursday.
A few hours after the attacks, Israeli aircraft killed the terror masterminds behind the multipronged offensive that targeted a bus, civilian cars and IDF soldiers near Eilat.
PRC, others claim Israel rocket attacks
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Several armed groups in the Gaza Strip announced Friday that they targeted Israeli sites with rockets in response to the killing of several militants in Rafah a day earlier.
The military wing of the PRC said it fired a rocket at the "Karmia settlement" in response to the killing of its leaders Thursday in Rafah. Five members of the armed group were killed.
The Al-Aqsa Brigades said it launched a Grad rocket at Beersheva, and the Al-Mujahedeen brigades said its operatives launched projectiles toward Nahal Oz area east of Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414460
10 rockets strike Israel day after coordinated terror attacks kill 8
At least 7 wounded as Palestinians fire Grad, Qassam missiles at Israel the day after a terrorist attack near Eilat and an IAF counter-attack on Gaza.
Less than a day after coordinated terror attacks killed eight Israelis, Palestinian attacks on Israel continue as 10 Grad and Qasasm rockets were fired Friday morning at Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva and Kiryat Gat.
Most of the rockets fell in open areas and did not cause damage or injuries, but one of the missiles hit a building in an Ashdod industrial park, wounding six people, one of them seriously. Three Qassam rockets were shot at the western Negev communities overnight. Emergency sirens were sounded, but no injuries or damage were reported.
The Palestinian rocket fire followed an IAF attack on the Gaza Strip overnight which came in response to the coordinated terror attacks on Israel that took place on Thursday afternoon.
IAF aircraft attacked seven sites in the Gaza Strip overnight. An IDF Spokesperson reported that the targets included two terror activity sites and a weapons storage unit in north Gaza, and two smuggling tunnels and a terror activity site in south Gaza.
The air force response a day of increased violence, in which eight Israelis were killed and 30 more wounded during a well-planned terror attack along the Israeli-Egyptian border Thursday.
The attack was planned in the Gaza Strip by the Popular Resistance Committees and perpetrated by terrorists who crossed from Gaza into Sinai via smuggling tunnels. They then traveled some 200 kilometers to reach an area of the border protected only by a tattered wire fence, about 15 kilometers north of Eilat.
Israeli forces killed five of the terrorists, and Egyptian soldiers reportedly killed two more. But the Israel Defense Forces estimates that 15 to 20 participated in the attack, meaning most escaped.
IDF officials believe the goal of the attack was to kidnap a soldier. The IDF had previously responded to warnings of a planned attack, beefing up its forces in the area.
The assault began around noon, when three terrorists armed with rifles, grenades and explosives entered Israel from Egypt and stationed themselves at intervals of about 200 meters along the highway to Eilat, Route 12, at a stretch of road that runs very close to the border. At 12:30 P.M., they opened fire on an Egged Bus 392, wounding seven passengers, causing light to moderate injuries. Most of those injured were soldiers.
A few minutes later, an empty bus and several cars arrived. The terrorists opened fire again, and when the bus stopped, one of the terrorists ran up to the bus and activated his explosive belt, killing himself and the driver.
The shooting killed four occupants of one car, plus the driver of another.
At that point, the first soldiers arrived in two vehicles. One vehicle ran down one of the terrorists, killing him. Soldiers in the second vehicle opened fire on the third terrorist. One soldier, Staff Sgt. Moshe Naftali of Ofra, was killed in the ensuing gun battle.
Additional police and army forces then arrived on the scene and killed the third terrorist. They also opened fire on two additional terrorists who were waiting on the Egyptian side of the border.
Assault helicopters joined the battle, and a terrorist fired a rocket-propelled grenade at one of the helicopters, but missed.
The two terrorists in Sinai were killed after policemen from Yamam, the special anti-terror unit, pursued them a short distance into Egyptian territory. The policemen returned to Israel immediately thereafter.
While all this was happening, the terrorists also fired mortars at a civilian work crew repairing the fence nearby, but caused no casualties.
The Egyptian army later reported that it killed two additional terrorists in Sinai. The IDF was in close contact with the Egyptian army throughout.
After the battle, the IDF brought in sappers, who discovered bombs planted along the road and dismantled them.
Then, at about 6:45 P.M., as senior defense officials were briefing reporters on the earlier attack, terrorists opened fire once again – this time at a Yamam force patrolling the border not far from the site of the original attack. One policeman was killed in the assault and another was wounded.
The second attack occurred about 45 minutes after the Israel Air Force attacked a group of senior PRC officials in Rafah, a Gazan town on the Sinai border. Among the six people killed were Kamel Nirab, the head of the PRC; Imad Hamed, the person responsible for its military activity in Gaza; Khaled Shaath, a leading member of the PRC’s military wing who was involved in rocket attacks on Israel; and Khaled Masri, who was involved in kidnapping soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. The Shin Bet security service suspects that Hamed is the one who planned yesterday’s attack near Eilat.
In response to the air strike, Palestinians fired two Grad rockets at Ashkelon. One landed in an open area near the city and caused no casualties or damage. The other appeared headed for a populous area of the city and was shot down by an Iron Dome anti-missile battery that had been stationed there a few days before due to an escalation in the rocket fire from Gaza.
Two other rockets were fired at Ashkelon at about 10 P.M., and the IDF is preparing for further escalation in rocket fire in response to last night’s air strike.
http://fwd4.me/09NK 20 jan 2012, 13:30 , Respect -
Maria 20 aug 2011
Hamas armed wing abandons ceasefire with Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, has called off a ceasefire with Israel and will allow factions in Gaza to respond to Israeli attacks, Al-Aqsa Radio reported late Friday.
"There can be no truce with the Israeli occupation while it commits massacres against the Palestinian people without justification," a representative of the militant group was quoted as saying.
Al-Qassam "calls on all factions to respond to the Israeli occupation's crimes."
Air attacks have killed at least 13 Palestinians in 24 hours, after Israeli leaders threatened to respond harshly to an operation Thursday near Eilat that left eight Israeli citizens dead.
Israel blames a group of Gaza militants for the shooting attacks near the Egyptian border, but the Popular Resistance Committees has denied that its operatives were involved.
Hamas, too, has denied charges by Israeli officials that the attacks "originated" in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414541
Hamas armed wing claims it fired Grad rockets at Israel
GAZA CITY (AFP) - The armed wing of Hamas said on Saturday it had fired four Grad rockets at the Israeli town of Ofakim, where officials earlier reported two children had been lightly wounded.
"We fired four Grad rockets at the Zionist town of Ofakim," some 15 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, said a statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades.
"This is our response to the crimes of the Zionist occupation after the deaths of 15 of our martyrs and dozens of injured" in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414785
Minister: Hamas will pay heavy price
Forum of top eight government ministers meets to discuss possible escalation in response to Gaza rocket attacks.
Israel preparing to escalate its response: Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said Saturday night he blamed Hamas for the lastest rocket offensive on southern Israel, vowing a tough response to the growing violence.
"Hamas is responsible; it's the master of the house," Aharonovitch said while touring the site of Saturday's deadly rocket attack in Beersheba. "The heavy responsibility lies with Hamas and it will pay a heavy price."
The forum of top eight government ministers was set to meet Saturday night to discuss escalating Israel's response to the rocket fire from Gaza. During the deliberations the ministers will discuss all options, including a ground operation in the Strip and increasing the pace of assassinations of terror group leaders.
"The minute Hamas took responsibility, it invited an escalation from our side as well," a government source said ahead of the meeting.
The rocket fire towards the south reached its current peak Saturday night with several salvos aimed at Beersheba. One of the Grad rockets hit a home, leaving one man dead and one woman mortally wounded.
Earlier in Ofakim, a rocket hit an empty house; a baby and young boy who were nearby were mildly wounded by shrapnel.
For the first time in this cycle of rocket barrages, Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades took responsibility for the rocket fire. Friday night the group announced that the "calm with Israel was over."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4111486,00.html
Man killed, baby hurt as rockets pound south
At least one man killed, four seriously wounded after rockets hit southern town of Beersheba; elsewhere, four-month-old baby, eight-year-old girl hurt after rocket hits Ofakim home.
Southern Israel faces major rocket offensive: At least one man was killed and four others sustained serious wounds, including a woman in grave condition, after rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit the southern town of Beersheba Saturday evening.
Local residents said the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted some of the rockets fired at the city in Saturday's salvo. The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the deadly barrage.
Meanwhile, a baby and child were among the wounded in the southern town of Ofakim, also hit by Gaza rockets.
Around 9 pm, numerous rocket hits were reported across the south, including a direct hit on a Beersheba home. Rescue services rushed to the scene immediately after the report. A vehicle was also hit in the city and caught fire.
Officials said a total of 8 people were hurt in the attack while 26 others suffered anxiety. Beersheba's Soroka hospital opened a hotline following the deadly attack at: 1255-177.
Soroka Medical Center Director Miki Saraf said one victim was dead upon arrival at the hospital. Another woman was gravely wounded, he said.
"We hope that her condition will improve; we are cautiously optimistic," he said, adding that dozens of people were treated for anxiety attacks.
Saraf said that a multi-casualty emergency was declared and all of the hospital's staff was therefore on hand.
'I almost fainted'
Dudu Kadosh, who treated one of the wounded whose leg was severed, recounted the moments of horror: "There was a siren and we heard some faint explosions. We ran to the house nearby and saw two people lying on the road, one with his leg hanging by the bone, with the flesh exposed. I almost fainted," he said.
"My son tried come inside but was injured, his legs were hurt," said the mother of one of the wounded. "I'm afraid; he was lying there and not speaking. I ran to get him some gauze to make a tourniquet."
One of the neighbors said two of the wounded were hurt while attempting to find shelter. "The two were running to get into the house and find shelter but the missile got them. My son went to help one of them; he's traumatized."
Magen David Adom's Negev Region Director Itzik Alfasi said most of those wounded in the blast sustained shrapnel injuries. "This is an opportunity to stress that the moment the Color Red alert is activated, people should remain in shelters for at least 10 minutes."
An initial investigation revealed that the wounded were all outside the shelters when the rockets hit.
Baby hurt in attack
Earlier in the evening, a four-month-old baby was wounded after a rocket fired from Gaza hit a home in the southern Israel town of Ofakim, Magen David Adom emergency services officials said.
An eight-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man were also hurt in the attack, officials said. According to initial reports, all three casualties sustained light wounds and were taken to Soroka Medical Hospital in Beersheba for treatment.
Hamas, which early Saturday announced that it is no longer committed to a truce with Israel, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the group later recanted its statement.
Neighborhood resident Dvir Ben Simon told Ynet: "At first I saw a spark and then I heard a loud bang that shook the entire neighborhood…the rocket landed in my neighbor's backyard."
Another neighbor, Tzvika Lankry, said the missile hit the house directly but apparently did not explode.
"The entire house was destroyed," he said. "I heard the siren, looked out the window and saw the rocket landing."
Iron Dome shoots down rocket
Earlier Saturday, the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted one Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip at Beersheba, Israel's largest southern city.
The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they fired two rockets at Beersheba and one more at Ashkelon.
The attack followed rocket and mortar barrages directed at southern Israel throughout the day by Gaza terrorists. At least 13 mortar shells were fired at Israel in the afternoon and evening hours, mostly landing in open areas and causing no injuries.
However, some damage was reported after one shell landed inside a local community.
Earlier Saturday, 11 people were wounded as result of the rocket fire. Eight of them were injured in Beersheba, while three Palestinian illegal aliens were hurt near Ashdod, one of them seriously.
After being informed of the attack, the mother of one of the wounded Palestinians said: "The missile has no eyes, and it never knows whether it will hit Muhammad or Shlomo."
With rocket attacks on Israel escalating, IDF Colonel Doron Mor Yosef, the head of the Home Front branch's southern district, briefed journalists and stressed the army's instructions for local citizens. While shopping centers and places of employment will operate normally, summer camps and studies will only be held at reinforced facilities or at sites close to secured roomed.
Referring to housing protestors staying in tent cities, Mor Yosef said that they have been asked not to gather at one site and remain close to shelters.
Meanwhile, following a situation assessment headed by Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino, the Israel police decided to keep its alert level at 3 – one level bellow the highest. Bolstered police forces are to secure the south and the Jerusalem area, as well as major highways and highly populated areas. Authorities urged the public to follow orders doled out by Home Front Command, and refrain from gather in large crowds.
Police Chief Danino made his way to the south following the meeting.
http://fwd4.me/09VZ
Hamas official: No ceasefire until Israel stops aggression
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Senior Hamas official Ahmad Bahar said Saturday that there would be no ceasefire until Israel stopped its aggression on the Palestinian people.
"Any talk about ceasefire between resistance factions and the Israeli occupation must be preceded by halting the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people," said Bahar in a statement.
The first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council said the Palestinian people and their resistance were entitled to self-defense by any accessible means.
"Israeli occupation fiercely attack Gaza mistakenly believing that it is the weakest link in the current equation," he said.
Israel's reliance on "illusionary arrogance and military might" was a miscalculation, he added, warning that the Palestinian resistance would "teach the enemy unforgettable lessons, and remind them that deterrence is symmetrical."
"The Palestinian people have not triggered the escalation which Israel is trying to use to achieve exposed internal and external goals."
Meanwhile, senior Israeli ministers prepared to meet on Saturday night to discuss escalating Israel's response to rocket fire from Gaza, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.
The ministers will discuss all options including a ground operation in Gaza and increasing assassinations or militant leaders, the report said.
Israel and the Palestinians battled each other for a third day on Saturday, with an Israeli man killed and two children hurt, as well as three Palestinians.
As the fighting continued, world powers trying to broker peace in the Middle East warned that there is a "risk of escalation" and urged key players in the region to hit the brakes.
The Israeli man was killed and seven others wounded, four of them seriously, by Grad rockets from the Gaza Strip which struck the southern Israeli city of Beersheva, the capital of Negev, according to Israeli emergency services.
The Popular Resistance Committees, a radical militant group blamed by Israel for the killing of eight Israelis near the Egyptian border on Thursday, claimed the Saturday attack on Beersheva.
The An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades said it fired two Grad missiles at the Negev capital in a campaign it has called "Free people's campaign to take revenge for the dutiful leaders."
Israel has killed seven of its men in strikes since the deadly attack in Eilat, but the group denies responsibility although it has welcomed the operation.
Since Thursday, Israeli warplanes have bombarded the Gaza Strip killing 14 Palestinians and wounding dozens more.
Militants in Gaza responded with a barrage of rocket fire and on Friday the armed wing of Hamas called off a ceasefire with Israel, Al-Aqsa Radio reported late Friday.
On Saturday evening, the Al-Qassam brigades said it had fired four Grad rockets at the Israeli town of Ofakim, where officials earlier reported two children had been lightly wounded.
"We fired four Grad rockets at the Zionist town of Ofakim," some 15 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, said a statement from the brigades.
"This is our response to the crimes of the Zionist occupation after the deaths of 15 of our martyrs and dozens of injured" in Gaza.
Earlier rockets fired from Gaza wounded three Palestinian workers in southern Israel and Israeli planes attacked the coastal enclave.
"One rocket hit a house, causing damage but no casualties," police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.
"The second fell on open ground, among sand dunes, where it wounded three people, Palestinians staying in Israel illegally, injuring two seriously and one moderately," she said of an attack near Ashdod.
President Mahmud Abbas called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to stop Israel's attacks on Gaza.
The Israeli military said more than 50 rockets or mortar rounds have been fired on Israel since midnight on Friday.
Activists in Gaza claimed 23 rockets struck Israel.
Islamic Jihad and the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also said they took part in the rocket attacks.
In Gaza City around 2,000 mourners, many waving Islamic Jihad banners and Palestinian flags and chanting "revenge, revenge on Tel Aviv" turned out for the funerals of an Islamic Jihad commander, Moataz Qouriqa, his five-year-old son Islam and his brother Munzer, killed in a strike late on Friday.
The army said that in the early hours of Saturday the Israeli air force attacked several targets in Gaza.
"Aircraft targeted two terror tunnels and a weapons storage facility in the southern Gaza Strip, as well as a terror activity site in the northern Gaza Strip," a statement said.
Palestinian medical officials said two air strikes targeted northern Gaza on Saturday that injured at least three people, one seriously, but military spokesmen could not confirm any aerial attacks during the day.
The Palestinians did not report any casualties from the overnight strikes, but said that air raids on Friday and Thursday killed a total of 14 people and wounded over 40.
And Palestinians said an Israeli tank fired two shells at an unknown target east of Gaza City on Saturday, but no casualties were reported.
The Arab League is to hold emergency talks on Sunday to discuss the situation, while world powers expressed concern.
A statement in Brussels from the diplomatic quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States said they remain "concerned about the unsustainable situation in Gaza as well as the risk of escalation, and calls for restraint from all sides."
Meanwhile, Israel said it had received no official notification from Egypt that it was recalling its ambassador to Tel Aviv after Egyptian state television reported that claim earlier in the day.
The television report said the ambassador was being withdrawn to protest the killing of the Egyptian policemen on Thursday.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel "regrets" the deaths of Egyptian policemen and promised a full investigation.
For its part, Egypt said it "denounces" Israeli attacks in Gaza and called on Israel to immediately halt strikes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414815
In response to its attacks on Gaza civilians, Resistance Grads kills an Israeli man
Al Qassam website - In response to the Israeli killings against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, An Israeli man was killed and ten others wounded, including four seriously injured, following the fall of “Grad” missiles at a house in the city of “Beersheba” on Saturday night.
In the evening of Saturday, a rise in numbers of rockets fired by Palestinian resistance factions on Israeli military bases and sites surrounding the Gaza Strip.
Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of Hamas – claimed responsibility for firing four missiles “Grad” on the “Ofukeem”, which lies 20 kilometers west of the city of “Beersheba” in response to the Israeli attacks against Gaza residents.
The Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the shelling was in response to the continued Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.”
Also the PRC claimed responsibility for bombing “Azata” with four-missiles “lGrad”, bringing the number of rockets fired in response to the Israeli attacks since the morning to 34 missiles
Meanwhile, Al-Quds Brigades – the military wing of Islamic Jihad – has announced a series of missile launches throughout the daylight hours in response to Israeli attacks.
Also Abu Ali Mustafa – the military wing of the Popular Front – claimed responsibility for launching three mortars on the military site “Kissufim” east of Khanyounis city.
http://fwd4.me/09V4
Jihad armed wing claims rocket attacks
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) The military wing of Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility Saturday for attacking Israeli sites with projectiles, calling the attacks retaliation for a series of Israeli air attacks.
The Al-Quds Brigades said in a statement that its operatives attacked Nahal Oz, Beersheba, Kiryat Malakhi, and Eshkol regional council in response to Israeli attacks in Gaza over the past 48 hours.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414634
Southern Israel under fire; 11 hurt in rocket attacks
Southern residents under major assault following Gaza terrorists' assertion of lull's end. Eight Israelis wounded in Beersheba attack, three Palestinian illegal aliens hurt in Ashdod. Islamic Jihad, PRC claim responsibility for strikes.
Gaza terrorists launched an incessant rocket and mortar offensive at southern Israel Saturday, wounding at least 11 people across the region.
The barrages followed a declaration by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas' military wing – saying that its armistice with Israel was over.
Saturday morning, the Color Red alert sounded in the greater Beersheba area. A subsequent explosion was reported in the city around 9 am. The projectile landed in an open area just outside Israel's largest southern city, injuring one person lightly. Magen David Adom paramedics attended to both.
Seven other people suffered light injuries while running to a nearby shelter. They arrived at the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba independently.
Also Saturday, security forces confirmed that two rockets landed on the outskirts of Ashdod around 6 am. Three people – identified as illegal Palestinian aliens working in the local industrial area – suffered mild to serious injuries and were rushed to the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot. The Color Red alert sounded in the greater Ashdod area shortly beforehand.
Iron Dome does it again
The terror offensive continued Saturday afternoon, with four mortar shells fired at Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported. Two more shells landed in open spaces in southern Israel by early evening.
Earlier, two rockets landed in the Lachish Regional Council around 12:30 pm. The Color Red alert sounded shortly before the explosion, both across the council's communities, as well as in Kiryat Gat and Gan Yanve, near Ashdod.
One of the rockets exploded on a section of Highway 35, from Ashkelon to Kirtay Gat, damaging it severely. No injuries were reported; security forces have closed the area to traffic.
Shortly after that, the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza at Ashkelon.
Four rockets hit Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council shortly before noon: A mortar shell exploded in one of the council's kibbutzim, causing one person to suffer shock as well as some property damage. Three other rockets exploded in open areas, causing no harm.
Around 8:30 am, a rocket fired from northern Gaza exploded in an open area in the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, causing no harm.
Meanwhile, Israel Air Force helicopters targeted two terror tunnels and a weapons mill in south Gaza Strip and a terror hub in its north in a nightly operation, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Saturday.
The IDF said the tunnels were meant to smuggle terrorists into Israel, adding that the pilots reported the targets were destroyed.
Palestinian sources reported of another IAF strike in northern Gaza strip at noon Saturday, in the area between Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
The Palestinian Ma'an news agency quoted medical officials as saying one person was injured in the strike.
The southern district was placed on high police and IDF alert Thursday, following the day's deadly terror attacks and ensuing rocket fire.
http://fwd4.me/09Sy
Al-Qassam Brigades: We will not let Israel escalate its crimes in Gaza
GAZA, (PIC)-- Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, on Friday warned the Israeli occupation state that it would pay dearly for its crimes in the Gaza Strip and vowed to avenge the blood of civilians and resistance fighters.
In a press release, the Brigades added that Israel's persistence in its aggression against Gaza people would bring disasters on its entity and security.
The statement underlined that Al-Qassam Brigades would be in the vanguard defending the Gaza Strip and its steadfast people and would not allow the occupation to escalate its attacks without retaliation.
The Brigades strongly denounced the latest Israeli crime which happened in a neighborhood in Rafah area killing one child, four fighters from Salahuddin Brigades, and one senior official from the popular resistance committees.
For its part, the popular resistance committees warned the Israeli occupation that Salahuddin Brigades, its armed wing, would respond strongly to the killing of a senior official and fighters of the committees.
Senior official of the committees Ayman Al-Shashniya stated that such Israeli crimes would only increase the Brigades' determination to resist the occupation.
He urged all the armed wings of resistance factions to get ready to repel Israel's aggression against their people in Gaza, and called on the Israeli occupation state to prepare for the worst to come.
http://fwd4.me/09Tt
PRC armed wing claims attack on Israel 'airstrip'
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said its operatives launched a rocket attack on the Al-Maghazi airstrip east of Gaza early Saturday.
The An-Nasser Brigades said in a statement that the rocket was in retaliation for Israeli attacks that left dead the group's commander Abu Awad An-Nayrab and four others Thursday.
Israeli forces launched a series of strikes on targets across the Gaza Strip late Thursday, killing six people in Rafah in the south and a 13-year-old boy in Gaza City and injuring at least 18 others.
The operations came hours after a series of attacks killed eight Israelis near Eilat.
http://fwd4.me/09T8
PRC, Islamic Jihad claim rocket fire on Israel
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed the rocket fire on Beersheba Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for Saturday's rocker fire on Ashdod, the western Negev and Be'er Tuvia.
http://fwd4.me/09T5
Report: 3 Palestinian workers injured by rocket
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Three Palestinian workers sustained injuries after a rocket attack in Ashdod, Israel radio reported Saturday.
The radio report said the workers, in their 20s, sustained serious injuries and were receiving treatment at a hospital in southern Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414601
Rocket salvo hits south; 3 injured
Escalation in south continues as Gaza terrorists follow threat of lull's end with rocket fire. Three people seriously injured as rockets hit outskirts of Ashdod. IAF strikes Gaza tunnels, terror hubs.
Gaza militants fired several rockets at Israel Saturday morning. The fire followed a declaration by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas' military wing – saying that its armistice with Israel was over.
The Color Red alert was sounded in the greater Beersheba area around 9 am, as well as in Gan Yavne, near Ashdod. An explosion was reported in Beersheba shortly afterwards.
Security forces are canvassing the area in search of the projectile, which landed in an open area just outside the city, causing no harm.
Around 8:30 am, a rocket fired from northern Gaza exploded in an open area in the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, also causing no harm.
Earlier, security forces confirmed that two rockets landed on the outskirts of Ashdod. Three people – identified as illegal Palestinian aliens working in the local industrial area – suffered mild to serious injuries and were rushed to the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot.
The Color Red alert sounded in the greater Ashdod area shortly beforehand. Initial reports suggested about five rockets hit southern communities.
Around 4 am, two rockets were launched at the western Negev, landing in an open area near the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed the rocket fire on Beersheba, while Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for Saturday's earlier rocker fire.
Meanwhile, Israel Air Force helicopters targeted two terror tunnels and a weapons mill in south Gaza Strip and a terror hub in its north in a nightly operation, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said Saturday.
The IDF said the tunnels were meant to smuggle terrorists into Israel, adding the pilots reported the targets were destroyed.
The southern sector was placed on high police and IDF alert Thursday, following the day's deadly terror attacks and ensuing rocket fire.
http://fwd4.me/09Sy 20 jan 2012, 13:30 , Respect -
Maria 21 aug 2011
Two Israelis die, 10 wounded in resistance retaliatory strikes
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Israelis died and ten were wounded in the Palestinian resistance’s retaliatory strikes on Saturday evening to the Israeli occupation forces’ bloody attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Hebrew media reported that the Palestinian rockets fell on Beer Sheba and Ofakim settlement, adding that one of the houses was badly damaged when a rocket slammed into it, wounding four settlers.
The Israeli authorities called on all citizens to remain in shelters.
One of the rockets hit a factory in Ofakim inflicting severe material damage.
The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced for the first time on Saturday evening the firing of four rockets at Ofakim.
http://fwd4.me/09Yj
PRC military wing refuses to uphold ceasefire agreement
A spokesman for the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said that the organization refuses to uphold the ceasefire agreement that was announced earlier. He noted that due to the possibilities open to the organization, it does not see itself committed to a ceasefire.
A spokesman for the PRC made similar statements earlier.
http://fwd4.me/09ZW
4 projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Mortar shells and four projectiles have been fired at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, an Israeli army spokeswoman said Sunday.
Two projectiles were launched at Ashkelon and two others landed in the Hof Ashkelon regional council.
No injuries were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415164
Israeli air strikes on Gaza will go on until rockets cease, orders Netanyahu
Israeli PM tells military to continue with air strikes against militants for as long as rockets are being fired from Gaza.
Binyamin Netanyahu has instructed Israel's military to continue air strikes in Gaza for as long as rockets are being fired from the territory, as efforts intensified to prevent the recent cycle of violence spiralling into an all-out war.
The Israeli prime minister gave orders for the air strikes to be as surgical as possible, telling military chiefs that the militants responsible for the rocket fire were the target, not civilians, according to his spokesman.
A 12-year-old boy was seriously injured when an Israeli missile struck a group of children in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza. Three children have been among the 15 Palestinians killed by the military since Thursday's bloodshed on the Israel-Egypt border that triggered the current crisis.
In Ofakim, an Israeli town close to the border with Gaza, a funeral was held for a 38-year-old man killed by a Grad rocket on Saturday night. The military wing of Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, claimed responsibility for firing four rockets that landed in or near Ofakim.
About 100 rockets have been fired from Gaza since Thursday, most of which have landed on open ground. Amid mounting calls by some Israeli politicians for a more sustained assault on the Gaza Strip, it was reported that leaders of militant groups in Gaza were in Cairo to discuss a ceasefire which, if agreed, would be put into effect on Sunday night.
At an emergency meeting of the parliamentary foreign affairs and defence committee, its chairman, Shaul Mofaz, said: "Israel must decide: will we continue with this intolerable reality of a war of attrition or will we strive for an unequivocal decision with regards to Hamas, including targeting its leaders and infrastructure with the aim of toppling its reign in Gaza."
Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, a military spokesman, said Israel had not finished its operations in Gaza and would not hesitate to widen it if necessary. "We will see how things develop on the ground," he told Israel Radio.
The Egyptian government is thought to be actively seeking an end to the attacks and counter-attacks. Yaser Otham, the Egyptian representative to the Palestinian Authority, told Voice of Palestine radio that Cairo was "in contact with all parties to restore the truce in Gaza". Hamas has maintained a de facto ceasefire since the end of the war in January 2009.
Israel does not want to further inflame tensions with Egypt, one of its few allies in the region. Egypt demanded an apology and investigation into the deaths of five Egyptian policemen during a battle between Israeli forces and militants along the border last Thursday.
Cairo said a statement of regret issued by Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, on Saturday was insufficient. "Although the Israeli statement is seemingly positive, it is not on a par with the gravity of the incident and the Egyptians' anger at the Israeli acts," the Egyptian cabinet said in a statement.
Since the fall of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, considered a staunch ally, Israel has been concerned about the future of its peace agreement with its neighbour. Protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo over the weekend, shouting "Death to Israel" and waving Palestinian flags, have further unsettled Israel.
The Israeli government sought to link the cross-border attack on Thursday, in which eight Israelis were killed and which it blamed on Gaza militants, to the Palestinians' bid for statehood at the United Nations next month, which it opposes.
"The Palestinian leadership's failure to condemn Thursday's bloody attack raised serious questions as to their readiness for statehood and their commitment to fighting terrorism," said Mark Regev, the prime minister's spokesman.
A high school in the southern city of Be'er Sheva was struck by a Grad missile on Sunday morning, damaging a toilet block. None of the school's 700 pupils were present because of the summer holidays.
http://fwd4.me/09Yf
Gaza groups agree ceasefire after Egypt mediation
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- A Hamas official said Sunday that all militant groups in Gaza have agreed to observe a cease fire to end the latest round of violence with Israel, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Egypt had helped mediate the cease fire after telling Gaza groups that Israel would halt airstrikes if militants stopped firing projectiles.
The official said that the ceasefire would begin Sunday evening and Hamas security would enforce the agreement, Haaretz said.
Earlier, a senior Islamic Jihad leader told AFP that Egyptian officials had held talks with some of Gaza's military factions in order to secure a ceasefire agreement.
Although Gaza's Hamas leaders were not there in person, a senior official from the Islamist movement confirmed they were in touch with the Egyptians by phone.
Israel began bombarding the Gaza Strip after militants staged a series of bloody shooting attacks in the Negev desert on Thursday, killing eight Israelis and prompting a wave of bloody tit-for-tat exchanges.
Israel blamed the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committee for the Eilat attacks, although the group denied involvement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415090
Opposition MKs urge IDF action in Gaza as rockets keep falling on southern Israel
Kadima lawmakers call for launch of extensive operation in Gaza after Thursday's terror attacks, weekend in which more than 100 rockets struck Israel.
Members of Knesset from Israel's leading opposition party, Kadima, urged the cabinet on Sunday to launch a military campaign in the Gaza Strip, following the barrage of rockets that struck Israel over the weekend and the deadly terrorist attack that predeced on Thursday.
At a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, committee chair MK Shaul Mofaz of Kadima said that Israel must take steps against Hamas, "topple their infrastructures and create a system of ties with Egypt in order to prevent terrorism coming from its border."
MK Yohanan Plesner, also of Kadima, said the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee would support a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip. "Creating a fixed reality of attrition in the south will constitute a victory for Hamas and the terrorist organizations," he said. "The State of Israel cannot put up with such a situation."
Head of Kadima party Tzipi Livni made a similar call on Saturday, saying the party will support an extensive military campaign. "You must use force against terrorism," she said. "Just as we have taken steps against terrorism in the past, we will also support steps now that will defend the citizens of Israel."
MK Avi Dichter (Kadima) said in the meeting that "following recent events, the world should think hard before recognizing a Palestinian state." Labor Party MK Amir Peretz said Israel should add another ten Iron Dome system, adding that "we must protect the lives of citizens."
Nine rockets and a barrage of mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel over the course of Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Iron Dome system successfully shot down one rocket aimed at Be'er Sheva and another three targeting the city of Ashkelon.
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Report: Gaza rockets land in Egypt
CAIRO (AFP) -- Rockets fired from Gaza early Sunday landed across the border in Egypt but caused no casualties, state television reported.
"Several rockets from the Gaza Strip landed this morning in Egyptian territory in the region west of the Rafah terminal, without causing casualties," the television reported.
A security official confirmed that rockets had landed in Egypt, but said they could have been fired by mistake.
"It seems they were directed at Israel," the source said on condition of anonymity.
Tensions in and around the Gaza Strip have soared since Thursday when militants staged a series of bloody shooting attacks in the Negev desert, killing eight Israelis and prompting a wave of bloody tit-for-tat exchanges.
Fourteen Palestinians have been killed and 47 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza, while one Israeli has been killed and dozens injured in a barrage of more than 100 rockets and mortars fired on cities and towns in the south.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414970
Gaza militants keep up rocket fire on Israel
By AMY TEIBEL - Associated Press
Israeli security officers inspect a damaged house hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants
Militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets and mortars on southern Israel early Sunday, striking an empty school and a dozen other targets, as U.S. and Egyptian diplomats were scrambling to keep the new convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence from escalating.
Senior Israeli officials met late into the night to discuss the violence, weighing whether to step up retaliatory operations against Gaza militants they say triggered the latest round of hostilities Thursday with a roadside ambush along the Israeli-Egypt border that killed eight Israelis.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said Israel's current response to the surge in violence - airstrikes that have killed 15 Palestinians, most of them militants - was not its final word.
Israel "will not hesitate" to widen its military operation if necessary, he told Israel Radio. "We will see how things develop on the ground," he said without elaborating.
Palestinian security forces reported that the Israeli military rounded up 50 Hamas activists in the West Bank in an overnight raid. The military had no comment.
The West Bank is ruled by the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who lost control of Gaza to bitter rival Hamas in a violent 2007 takeover. A reconciliation pact the two sides signed in May after years of failed efforts has stalled.
Israel's rescue service says one Israeli was killed and about a dozen injured in barrage
Since Thursday's ambush, militants have fired around 100 rockets and mortars on southern Israel, killing an Israeli man and seriously wounding two other people on Saturday. No serious injuries have been reported from the bombardment early Sunday, the military said.
Diplomats were scrambling to prevent the flare-up in violence from spiraling out of control.
Yaser Otham, the Egyptian representative to the Palestinian Authority, told Voice of Palestine Radio that Cairo was "in contact with all parties to restore the truce in Gaza."
Militant factions in Gaza confirmed the efforts. Talal Abu Tharefeh, spokesman for the small Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said "all the Palestinian factions are interested in restoring the truce in order to protect our people."
Militant attacks from Gaza diminished sharply after Israel launched a punishing, three-week war in the territory launched in December 2008, following years of relentless rocket and mortar fire on its southern communities. Since then, armed factions have largely maintained a cease-fire.
Egypt was drawn into last week's violence after at least three of its security forces were killed as Israeli troops pursued militants involved in the ambush along the Israel-Egypt border. Cairo initially threatened to withdraw its ambassador to Israel but relented after Israel apologized.
Western diplomats in Cairo said Washington was mediating between the Egyptians and the Israelis to try to prevent the violence from exploding. They spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss ongoing diplomatic efforts.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S., French and German mediators had been involved in defusing the diplomatic crisis with Egypt.
An ultra-orthodox Jewish man is seen next to the Iron Dome missile defense system deployed in Ashkelon
While the crisis appears to have been defused, Israeli officials say they are not convinced it cannot re-ignite.
In the Egyptian capital, popular anger simmered, and protesters gathered outside the Israeli Embassy for a third day on Sunday, demanding the expulsion of the Israeli envoy who is now vacationing abroad.
Although the military leaders who now rule Egypt have expressed their commitment to the two nations' 1979 peace treaty, anti-Israel sentiment has grown in Egypt since its longtime autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak, was toppled by a popular uprising in February. Israel is watching closely for signs that Egypt's new rulers might be responding to that sentiment.
Israel relied on Mubarak as a trusted, if cool, ally, maintaining the peace accord despite Egyptian disappointment that it did not lead to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and a comprehensive Arab-Israeli agreement. Israeli officials are wary about instability in post-Mubarak Egypt and fear a new government that might distance itself further from Israel.
http://fwd4.me/09X3 20 jan 2012, 13:30 , Respect -
Maria 22 aug 2011
Gaza factions agree ceasefire as overnight calm holds
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Reports of a Sunday evening ceasefire deal reached between factions in Gaza and Israel appeared to hold overnight Sunday, as residents paused for breath after four days of Israeli airstrikes.
The Israeli army reported that 12 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel overnight, with no injuries.
But the cessation deal, described by a Hamas official as "informal", seemed to take Gaza residents safely through the night.
No faction claimed rockets attacks after the deal was in place, around 9 p.m. Israel time, 8 p.m. in winter-saving time.
The Popular Resistance Committees' military wing announced Monday they would adhere to the ceasefire, after Israeli media reported they were holding out on Sunday.
"We will temporarily stop firing rockets for the sake of our Palestinian people," said the statement posted on the website of the group, which was blamed by Israel for a series of bloody attacks near Eilat last week that killed eight Israelis.
The group, which denied involvement, has worked closely with Gaza's Hamas rulers in the past, but struck out over the issue of attacks on Israel.
Its leader and several militants were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday, and the Israeli news site Ynet said Sunday the group's spokesman Abu Mujahed insisted that Israel "take responsibility" for the action.
A senior Islamic Jihad leader told AFP on Sunday that Egyptian officials had held talks with some of Gaza's military factions in order to secure a ceasefire agreement.
Although Gaza's Hamas leaders were not there in person, a senior official from the Islamist movement confirmed they were in touch with the Egyptians by phone.
Tensions in and around the Gaza Strip have soared since Thursday when militants staged a series of bloody shooting attacks in the Negev desert, killing eight Israelis and prompting a wave of bloody tit-for-tat exchanges.
Since Thursday, 14 Palestinians have been killed, nine of them militants, and 47 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza, while one Israeli has been killed and dozens injured in a barrage of more than 100 rockets and mortars fired on cities and towns in the south.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Sunday that the military strikes might last a few days, shortly before reports of the ceasefire emerged.
The minister echoed fierce statements of the Israeli Prime Minister, telling journalists on the trip to Israel's "Iron Dome" missile interception system that Israel's enemies would be "decapitated", Israeli daily Ynet reported.
"We have a policy of extracting a very high price from anyone who causes us harm," Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Friday, before the launch of several rounds of airstrikes.
An informal ceasefire deal with Israel is maintained by Gaza's ruling party Hamas in the coastal enclave, who contend with several rival factions to ensure compliance with the ban on hostilities.
The ceasefire last broke in April, when an Israeli bombardment that killed a group of Hamas fighters launched days of rocket fire and Israeli air raids that killed at least 18 people in Gaza.
Factions received the deal coolly in that month, but the truce held until Thursday's attacks were pinned on the Gaza-base of the Popular Resistance Committees.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415152
PRC armed wing announces halt to firing of rockets
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, announced a “temporary” halt to firing of locally made rockets at Israeli targets.
Abu Ataya, the armed wing’s spokesman, told a press conference in Gaza on Monday that the decision was based on the higher interests of the Palestinian people.
He said that the decision did not mean a ceasefire with the Israeli occupation, explaining that resistance would continue until liberation of all occupied Palestinian land.
Meanwhile, Adham Salmiya, the spokesman for medical services in Gaza, said that 15 people were killed in the Israeli aggression on Gaza that lasted for three days, adding that three children and a doctor were among the dead.
He added in a statement on Sunday that the bodies of all martyrs were mutilated and burnt, which reflects the type of devastating weapons used by the Israeli occupation forces against the Gaza population.
Salmiya said that 55 citizens were wounded including 15 children, 12 women, and a paramedic.
He urged the world community and the European Union to activate the international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that protect civilians at times of military action.
http://fwd4.me/09cx
Casualties mount in Gaza-Israel violence
(1:32) Casualties mount in Gaza-Israel violence (21-Aug-11)(GLOBAL FOCUS series - Israel)
'Palestinians agree on truce with Israel'
Palestinian resistance movements based in the Gaza Strip reach an 'informal' agreement to strike a ceasefire deal with Israel after Tel Aviv escalated its attacks against the enclave.
The unofficial accord was brokered by the Egyptian authorities on Sunday, AFP reported.
"We have reached an informal agreement to establish a ceasefire from tonight on condition that Israel halts its attacks," said an official with the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas on condition of anonymity.
The development followed Thursday attacks by the Israeli military, which killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured more than 45 others across Gaza.
The regional grouping of the Arab League has condemned the attacks and called for United Nations intervention to stop Israeli aggression.
Keeping up their crackdown on the Palestinians, Israeli military forces also arrested at least 120 Palestinians, including Hamas members, in the city of al-Khalil [Hebron] in the south of the Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank earlier in the day.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195099.html
Army: Gaza militants fire 3 rockets into southern Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Militants in northern Gaza fired several rockets into southern Israel on Monday evening, the Israeli military said, hours after a temporary truce was agreed.
A Qassam rocket landed south of Ashkelon shortly after two rockets landed in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council causing no injuries but sparking a fire, an army spokeswoman said.
Hamas spokesman Taher An-Nunu said Monday that factions in Gaza had committed to a truce with Israel.
On Sunday night, the Hamas-run security forces were "instructed to stop the shooting" against Israel, with police checking cars in the border area, and checkpoints set up at the entrance to every town in Gaza.
Israel police said seven rockets were fired from Gaza between midnight and 8:00 am, but nothing after that.
A senior Hamas official told AFP that the factions had hammered out a truce agreement in talks with Egyptian officials, which would be contingent on Israel stopping its air strikes on Gaza.
"We have reached an informal agreement to establish a ceasefire from tonight on condition that Israel halts its attacks," he told AFP.
Israel's 15-member security cabinet was reportedly called to an emergency meeting at 3:00 am, army radio said, at which the military's top brass presented various options for stopping the rocket fire.
But after an hour of discussion, ministers decided against a ground operation for fear it "could trigger mass demonstrations in Egypt which could destabilize the regime in Cairo" and also harm Israeli interests in September when the Palestinian are planning to seek UN membership, the radio said.
Efforts to end the fighting in and around Gaza came as Israel sought to head off a diplomatic crisis with Egypt sparked by Thursday's attacks near Eilat, with Cairo saying five policemen had been killed by Israeli fire during the hunt for gunmen along the border.
Two days later, Egypt's state television said Cairo was going to recall its envoy from Israel in protest.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed "regret" over the deaths and promised an investigation, but Egypt said it wasn't enough, although it made no move to confirm reports it would recall its envoy.
The looming specter of a crisis with Egypt played a concrete role in bringing about an end to the Gaza confrontations, Israeli press reports said.
"As early as Saturday morning, in an effort to avoid worsening relations with Egypt following Thursday's terror attack, the government ordered the IDF to greatly reduce its attacks on terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip," Haaretz said.
"We must not lose Egypt because of one terror attack," a senior defense official told the paper. "If the attack near Eilat harms our relations with Egypt, that will be a great victory for the terror organizations."
Tensions in and around Gaza kicked off after the Negev desert shooting attacks with Israel launching a wave of retaliatory air strikes against the Popular Resistance Committees, killing its leader and several other of its senior militants.
The PRC committed to the truce Monday, but only "temporarily."
"We have temporarily stopped firing rockets at Israel according to the national consensus," said a masked spokesman for the group.
He added that talk of a more permanent truce was "out of the question. We have an open account with the enemy until it leaves Palestinian soil."
In the four days following the Eilat attacks, Israeli air strikes killed 14 Palestinians while more than 50 people were wounded.
Over the same period, militants fired more than 100 rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and cities in the south, killing one man and injuring more than 20, one critically.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415453 20 jan 2012, 13:30 , Respect -
Maria 23 aug 2011
Nunu: Palestinian factions abide by calm as long as IOF abides by it
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian government in Gaza announced that a calm agreement was reached between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli occupation authority.
Taher Al-Nunu, the government’s spokesman, told a press conference on Monday that the factions pledged to abide by the calm as long as the IOA abided by it.
He appreciated the factions’ commitment out of keenness on the Palestinian higher interests.
Nunu praised the UN special envoy’s role in reaching that agreement, and lauded the Arab League Secretary General Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi for following up with concern developments of the IOA aggression and condemning it.
Nunu appreciated the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for denouncing the Israeli attacks, and all other parties who adopted a similar position.
He also mentioned in particular the Egyptian efforts in this regard and intelligence minister Murad Muwafi’s direct involvement in efforts to halt the aggression.
http://fwd4.me/09gw
PFLP military wing not part of Gaza ceasefire
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The military wing of the PFLP, the Abu Ali Mustafa brigades, said Monday that they were not part of the ceasefire agreement between Palestinian factions and Israel.
The group claimed responsibility for firing two projectiles at southern Israel on Monday night, a statement from the group said.
“We will continue with resistance using all means to retaliate to all crimes the enemy commits against the Palestinian people.”
The group called on Palestinian factions and political parties to close ranks and maintain national unity in order to be able to face the occupation’s threats and crimes.
“Unity is our road to victory, liberation, and conquering occupiers,” the statement concluded.
Hamas spokesman Taher An-Nunu said Monday that factions in Gaza had committed to a truce with Israel.
On Sunday night, the Hamas-run security forces were "instructed to stop the shooting" against Israel, with police checking cars in the border area, and checkpoints set up at the entrance to every town in Gaza.
In the four days following the Eilat attacks, Israeli air strikes killed 14 Palestinians while more than 50 people were wounded.
Over the same period, militants fired more than 100 rockets and mortars at Israeli towns and cities in the south, killing one man and injuring more than 20, one critically.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415484
20 jan 2012, 13:30 , Respect -
Maria 24 aug 2011
Israel kills Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza air strike
An Israeli air strike has killed a commander from the militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli missile hit the car of Ismael al-Ismar, a leader of al-Quds Brigades in the city of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.
Shortly afterwards, mortars were fired from northern Gaza into southern Israel. There were no injuries.
Violence between Israel and militants in Gaza has flared since a deadly attack on Israeli buses last week.
The Israeli military said its target had been an activist implicated in weapons smuggling and militant operations in Egypt's Sinai region.
Israel responded with further military action reported to have wounded two militants.
Fragile 'truce'
The BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem says these exchanges threaten to undermine the informal ceasefire agreement that was announced by an official from Hamas, which governs Gaza, late on Sunday.
This was joined by smaller militant groups.
Al-Quds Brigade is the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad organisation.
On Monday, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) - agreed to halt rocket fire against Israel as a "temporary" measure "for the sake of the Palestinian people".
Earlier, Israel's army radio reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet had decided the military would stop its air strikes on Gaza if militants there halted their attacks.
Tensions rose rapidly after a series of shooting ambushes near the Red Sea resort of Eilat last Thursday, which killed eight Israelis.
The militants responsible are believed to have been Palestinians from Gaza who crossed from Egypt.
The leader of the PRC, which Israel blamed for the attack was among 15 Palestinians killed in subsequent air raids in Gaza.
Militant groups there responded by firing more than a hundred rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and cities. One man was killed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-14646349
Sinai: Women hurt by rocket fired from Gaza
Incident marked was first time a rocket from Gaza had landed on a residential area in Sinai.
A woman was injured by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip into the Egyptian town of Rafah on Wednesday, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported, as tension simmered in the region after a spate of cross-border violence.
The woman was taken to hospital with light injuries, said a security source in the area.
Another source said it was the first time a rocket from Gaza had landed on a residential area and not in the desert, which was "raising concern among the security forces here".
Egyptian security forces were searching the desert frontier with Gaza and Israel for terrorists who may be behind the killing of eight Israelis on Thursday along a road north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat, Egyptian officials said.
http://fwd4.me/09lr
Barrage of rockets hits Southern Israel as violence flares up
No casualties reported as rockets land near Ofakim and Ashkelon. Earlier Wednesday IDF forces hit militants who shot mortar shells from northern Gaza.
A renewed barrage of rockets hit Israel's south on Wednesday evening. Two grad rockets fell in open areas, one near Ofakim and one south of Ashkelon. Rockets also fell in the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
The IDF Home Front Command called on residents of Eshkol and Sha'ar Hanegev to remain indoors, and announced the cancellation of the "Breeze" music festival that was due to take place Wednesday evening. The announcement came only two hours after the Home Front Command said residents can return to their daily routine.
Also on Wednesday, security officials said that the Islamic Jihad operative who was killed in an IAF airstrike early Wednesday morning was responsible for transfer of funds used in last Thursday's attacks.
The operative was identified as 34-year-old Ismael al-Asmar.
Security officials said that the decision was made to target al-Asmar due to intelligence that he was planning to initiate another attack from Sinai in the coming days.
Al-Asmar was targeted while he was in a vehicle in the western part of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. One additional person was wounded.
Later on Wednesday morning, two mortar shells fired from Gaza exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing light damage but no injuries.
IAF aircraft targeted two militants in seperate locations on Wednesday in the northern Gaza who had launched projectiles at Israel shortly before, the IDF said in a statement.
http://fwd4.me/09oi
Gaza projectile lands in Egypt
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Egyptian security forces in Rafah said Wednesday that a Palestinian projectile had landed on Egyptian land around 300 meters from the Gaza border.
According to Egyptian security, the projectile was fired from the south of Gaza and landed on an Egyptian farm south of the Rafah crossing.
An Egyptian military committee arrived at the location of the projectile and have stored the remains.
It is not the first time a projectile from Gaza has landed on Egyptian land, security forces said, with several landing in Egypt over the past week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415816
Islamic Jihad vows revenge after Israel kills commander
GAZA, (PIC)-- A commander from al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, was killed and two others have been injured in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza Strip Wednesday morning.
The hit was in clear violation of a truce recently reached by Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel.
The casualties, among them al-Quds Brigades commander Ismail al-Asmar, 34, were targeted by drones while in a car in Tel Sultan west of Rafah, medics told the PIC.
The Islamic Jihad has vowed to respond to the hit as well as to other Israeli crimes.
“We will deal with the enemy in a language it understands well, the language of blood. We will not be silent over its crimes constantly committed against our people,” said islamic Jihad leader Ahmed al-Mudallil in statement aired by Al-Aqsa radio station on Wednesday.
Later on, al-Quds Brigades declared that it bombed three Israeli military sites with six mortar shells after the hit.
It also announced that one of its cells survived an Israeli air strike in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip.
http://fwd4.me/09mA
Rights group: Rockets injure Palestinians in Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Eight Palestinians, including two children and three women, were injured this week by rockets fired in populated areas across the Gaza Strip, a human rights group charged Wednesday.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights says a woman was seriously injured.
After one incident, according to the PCHR, an ordnance disposal unit arrived at the scene and collected the rocket's shrapnel, but the civil police never showed up to investigate.
The group called on concerned authorities "to investigate these incidents, to take necessary measures to ensure the non-recurrence of such incidents and to provide protection to civilians."
According to the PCHR, four attacks since Friday injured civilians in Rafah, Jabaliya, and Gaza City.
The most recent incident was early Monday, the rights group said. A rocket landed on a house belonging to Sobhi Shakhsa, 53, in the east of Gaza City. Three of his sons were treated for shock.
Samar Sheikh, 28, was seriously wounded by shrapnel to the pelvis and back, and was admitted Sunday into the intensive care unit at Shifa Hospital. Her young brother was also hurt.
A day earlier, 16-year-old Sad Salhi and Naheda Salem, 53, were evacuated from Jabaliya to Shifa, where they were treated for various shrapnel wounds caused by a rocket.
On Friday, Abdul Sattar Abu Snaima, 21, was wounded by shrapnel when a rocket landed in front of his house. He was treated at a hospital in Rafah, according to the group.
A UN report, meanwhile, says a Palestinian child, 13 years old, died and six others were injured when a Grad rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group fell short in Gaza City.
The report contradicts health ministry officials who said Mahmoud Abu Samra died in an Israeli airstrike on his home near a former intelligence services headquarters in the city.
Six rockets were fired into Israel on Wednesday amid airstrikes that killed two Palestinians, one of them an operative in Islamic Jihad's military wing, in Gaza City and Rafah, medics and witnesses said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415905
Attacks in Gaza and Israel
Al Jazeera's Safwat Alkahlout reports that al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad in Gaza, just announced it had fired a Grad rocket at Beersheva, south of Israel. The attack is in retaliation for the assassination of one its top leaders, Ismail Zadi Ismail Asmar.
Meanwhile, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced that it had fired two rockets at Netevout.
Earlier, Islamic Jihad said itt had fired 6 mortar shells at Israeli military bases near the border with Gaza.
http://fwd4.me/09op 20 jan 2012, 13:30 , Respect -
Maria 25 aug 2011
Islamic Jihad armed wing: No chance of truce
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The military wing of Islamic Jihad has called on all of its members to attack Israel in response to the killing of three Al-Quds Brigades operatives in 24 hours.
"Our war with the occupation has begun and there is no possibility of discussing a truce," the group said in a statement after an airstrike killed two of its members late Thursday.
The operatives, Salim Al-Arabid and Alaa Hamdan, were killed by an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, according to witnesses and medics.
An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
The attacks came as five rockets struck the western Negev Thursday night and 12 rockets in the past 24 hours, according to the army.
Seven others have been killed and at least 30 injured in airstrikes during the same period.
The latest airstrikes come amid renewed cross border violence as hostilities flared following a series of shooting attacks in southern Israel last Thursday.
A fragile truce among Gaza militants was announced Sunday evening, but it came unstuck after Israel killed an Islamic Jihad field commander Tuesday amid sporadic rocket fire.
On Thursday, Islamic Jihad pledged that if Israel halted its airstrikes on Gaza, its militants would stop firing rockets into southern Israel, a spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
"If Israel stops its attacks, the Palestinian resistance will stop firing rockets," said Daoud Shihab after 24 hours of Israeli airstrikes targeting the faction left several militants dead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416165
PRC says its armed wing will scrap truce
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The Popular Resistance Committees' armed wing on Thursday said its forces would not commit to a truce with Israel, after an airstrike killed two Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza.
The Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades said in a statement that both sides must stop attacks for any truce to last, but Israel did not stop attacking Gaza.
"We will respond to their attacks with all our strength," the group said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416173
Rocket hits western Negev
A rocket fired from northern Gaza exploded in an open area on the outskirts of Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.
No injuries or damage were reported. The Color Red alert sounded beforehand.
http://fwd4.me/09uj
Islamic Jihad: 'We will halt rockets if Israel stops raids'
GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Islamic Jihad on Thursday pledged that if Israel halted its air strikes on Gaza, its militants would stop firing rockets into southern Israel, a spokesman told AFP.
"If Israel stops its attacks, the Palestinian resistance will stop firing rockets," said Daoud Shihab after 24 hours of Israeli air strikes targeting the faction left at least two of its militants dead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416080 20 jan 2012, 13:31 , Respect -
Maria 26 aug 2011
PFLP brigades claim rocket fired into Ashkelon
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- A leftist armed group said its forces fired a rocket from Gaza into southern Israel on Friday, hours after a dawn ceasefire deal was announced by Gaza factions.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's armed wing said it fired a Grad rocket at Ashkelon. The attack caused no damage or injuries, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.
The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said it fired the rocket in response to "Israeli crimes."
The group was the only armed faction in the Gaza Strip to reject a short-lived ceasefire deal agreed Sunday by Hamas and others. Hamas' armed wing and militants aligned with Islamic Jihad had agreed.
Two members of Islamic Jihad's military wing were then killed in an Israeli attack days later; the barrage of airstrikes and rockets launched from Gaza shattered the ceasefire.
A new ceasefire was declared early Friday by Islamic Jihad following the renewed violence.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416290
Gaza militant group pledges resistance of Jewish Jerusalem
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A little-known militant group in Gaza said Friday it would continue "resistance to liberate Palestine and its capital Jerusalem."
The Al-Aqsa Brigades -- Imad Mughniyeh Martyrs said in a statement marking Al-Quds Day that all factions and Jerusalem organizations should work to oppose Israel's attempt to impose a Jewish identity on Jerusalem.
Al-Quds Day is marked across the world by Palestine solidarity activists on the last Friday of Ramadan. State-sponsored rallies are also held in Iran.
The Imad Mughniyeh Martyrs, named after a Hizbullah leader killed in 2008, have been variously tied to the Lebanon-based group, Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and militants who left Fatah-affiliated Al-Alqsa Brigades.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=416248