Israeli actions against Gaza

Calling this, as it has been, a 'conflict' is like calling the invasion of Iraq 'a war'. It is an aggressive and punitive action against a largely defenseless population in what amounts to a prison.

Tensions rise over Gaza rocket attacks

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened "more extensive and deeper action" against militants in the Gaza Strip, after 79 rockets and mortar shells were fired into southern Israel on Wednesday.

the Age,

25 October, 2012

"We neither chose nor initiated this escalation but . . . whoever intends to attack Israeli citizens needs to know that he will bear the consequences," Mr Netanyahu warned on a tour of Israel's defensive Iron Dome system in the southern city of Ashkelon.

If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation. 

Three foreign workers were injured, two seriously, in one of the rocket strikes, several houses were damaged and the Israel Defence Force confirmed an Israeli soldier was seriously wounded near the Gaza border fence.

An Israeli man inspects the damage to his house from a rocket attack on the Israeli Kibbutz Ein Shlosha Photo: AFP

Retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza's north killed four Palestinians – including three militants – and injured eight, medical authorities in Gaza reported.

The IDF targeted two militant squads in the northern Gaza Strip as they were preparing to fire rockets towards Israel, as well as smuggling tunnels and five other "terror sites", its spokeswoman, Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich, said.

Since the beginning of the year, nearly 550 rockets and missiles had been launched from Gaza, she said, affecting 1 million citizens across southern Israel who live within the firing range.

Relatives carry the body of the Hamas militant Ismail al-Tali, killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. Photo: AP

 

Hamas is under increasing pressure from more militant groups operating in Gaza, which Colonel Leibovich described as a "terror hub".

Hamas usually distances itself from rocket fire from Gaza, but this week its Al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the roadside bomb detonated near the Israeli soldier.

The escalation in hostilities began just hours after the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, became the first head of state to visit Gaza since the Hamas took control of the 42-kilometre long coastal strip in 2007.

Sheikh Hamad has pledged $US400 million for construction projects in Gaza – much of it going towards rebuilding key infrastructure damaged in Israel's Operation Cast Lead operation in December 2008 and January 2009.

Israel's President, Shimon Peres, said: "When the Emir of Qatar comes with lots of money and donates it for construction, we have no problem with that. But . . . that money isn't being used for construction but rather to fire and to kill."

Israel's Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, said the IDF was working against "all the terror elements" operating out of Gaza. "Since the beginning of the month, 15 active terrorists have been killed in the act, and more have been injured," he said in a statement.

Asked on Israel Radio if Israel was considering military operations on the ground in Gaza, Mr Barak said: "If we need a ground operation there will be a ground operation." He urged the government to quickly implement a decision to expand protection to another 1700 homes vulnerable to rocket attacks.

Thirteen kilometres from Egypt and just over four kilometres from Gaza, the residents of Kibutz Nir Yitzhak have become accustomed to the rocket fire from Gaza over the past three years, one resident, Janet Swierzenski, said.

"Today our friends on the other side [in Gaza] woke us at 5am with rockets. We were asleep, the children were asleep, and everybody rushed into the shelter until 7.30am," she said.

"When the Israeli army fires into the [Gaza] Strip and they fight back it feels something like ping-pong – back and forth," Mrs Swierzenski said?

The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, called on Israel to refrain from escalating its attacks against Palestinians in Gaza