Palestinian rocket kills two Israelis

by Ibrahim Barzak
Associated Press
June 29, 2004

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/129/palestinian-rocket-kills-two-israelis

GAZA CITY - Palestinian militants fired a rocket yesterday into an Israeli town near the Gaza Strip, killing two people, and hours later Israeli helicopters fired missiles into a Hamas-linked media center and began massing forces along the Gaza border.

The rocket in Sderot, a working-class Israeli town near Gaza, landed just yards from a pair of nursery schools, killing a 3- year-old boy and a 49-year-old man. It was the first time in nearly four years of fighting that Israelis were killed by rockets from Gaza.

Early today, Israeli aircraft fired three missiles into a 16-story building in Gaza City, hitting the third-floor offices of Al-Jeel, a media outlet run by the Islamic militant group, witnesses said. Two people were hurt.

Minutes later, helicopters also fired a missile at a building housing a metal workshop in the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, witnesses said.

The army said Hamas used the center to release claims of responsibility and distribute inflammatory material. The workshop was used for making home-made rockets, the army said.

Several tanks rolled into northern Gaza late yesterday and more armored vehicles assembled at the Gaza border, along with dozens of troops - a precursor to what Israeli security officials said could be a prolonged operation in Gaza to prevent Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli border towns.

Despite the surge in violence, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he remains determined to go ahead with his planned withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. Addressing lawmakers, Sharon pledged to speed up the evacuation of settlers who are ready to leave voluntarily.

Sharon met yesterday afternoon with Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and other senior security officials to plan a response to the rocket attack in Sderot.

‘‘There is a war against terror, and we shall continue fighting terror regardless of disengagement," Israel's vice premier, Ehud Olmert, told Israel TV. He said Israel would have greater freedom of action after a withdrawal.

Late yesterday, several tanks drove into northern Gaza, the area from which the rockets were fired. Israeli troops have repeatedly raided the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, near Sderot, to stop rockets.

Soldiers later blew up an empty eightstory building that overlooked an army outpost attacked by Palestinian militants late Sunday. The demolition came after soldiers razed 15 nearby Palestinian homes, leaving about 60 people homeless.

In Sunday's outpost attack, militants dug a 1,000-foot-long tunnel and detonated hundreds of pounds of explosives under the outpost, killing a soldier and wounding five. Following the blast, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, and two more were shot dead early yesterday in Gaza.

About 2,500 Hamas supporters celebrated the outpost attack in a rally last evening in the Gaza refugee camp of Jabaliya, and speakers said attacks on Israel would continue.

Sharon's ‘‘unilateral disengagement" plan calls for the evacuation of all Gaza Strip settlements - where some 7,500 Israelis live among 1.3 million Palestinians - and four West Bank enclaves by September 2005.

Sharon has said his plan will improve Israel's security by reducing friction with the Palestinians. But more violence is expected ahead of the pullout, to be completed by the end of 2005.

Palestinian militants want to step up attacks so they can portray the withdrawal as a hasty retreat by Israel. The military, in turn, hopes to strike hard at armed groups to prevent any gloating and weaken their ability to attack Israel after a pullback.

Eran Lehrman, an Israeli military analyst, said the latest violence could complicate the pullout. ‘‘If this continues, Israel will have to hold on to parts of Gaza until it can stop the rocket attacks on Sderot," he said.

Still, he said he expects Israel to find a military solution for the attacks, allowing the pullout to proceed next year. Sharon told a closed-door meeting of legislators that he remained committed to the withdrawal.

In Sderot, anger was at a fever pitch following the rocket attack, which came as parents dropped their children off at the Lilach and Yasmin nursery schools.

The victims were identified as 3-yearold Afik Zahavi, who was on his way to nursery school, and Mordechai Yosopov, 49. Afik's mother, Ruth, was hospitalized in critical condition, and 10 other people sustained minor injuries. Sderot, about two miles from Gaza, has been a frequent target of rocket attacks. Sharon also owns a ranch in the area.

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