Posted on 09/24/2005 8:21:34 AM PDT by veronica
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it carried out an air strike on two vehicles driving in Gaza City on Saturday. Four Hamas members were killed and nine other people were wounded, Palestinian doctors and Hamas officials said.
The IDF said one of the vehicles was carrying weapons and the other was carrying Hamas members. The air strike came in response to a barrage of Palestinian Qassam rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, the first such attacks since Israel pulled out of Gaza two weeks ago.
The air strike occurred on a dirt road in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Construction worker Ziad Salim said he was working on a nearby house when the missiles struck.
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"We've been hearing the planes all day, but suddenly I heard two explosions very close by. I looked out the window and I saw two cars. They were in flames and there were two bodies thrown near them on the ground," he said.
He said a group of children were playing nearby at the time, and that it appeared that some of them were among the wounded.
Palestinian radio stations said Israel Air Force Apache helicopters remained overhead and warned people to be careful.
Israel Defense Forces troops also began amassing along the northern Gaza Strip border on Saturday, threatening military action if Qassam rocket strikes continue.
In addition to tank and infantry units, artillery batteries were deployed on the Gaza border, an unprecedented step following a Hamas rocket barrage on Israeli towns.
Reporters saw five artillery cannons being set up near Kibbutz Nahal Oz on the border. Seven armored personnel carriers took up positions nearby, and a command post was set up. Troops also set up netting and barbed wire around their position, suggesting they were settling in for a longer period.
IAF jets launched an air strike earlier Saturday near the northern Gaza Strip on an open field used by militants to fire rockets into Israel, the army said.
The army said the strike had targeted a field from which Palestinian militants had been launching rockets.
Palestinian security sources said the air strike took place near Beit Hanoun with no injuries reported.
Prime Minster Ariel Sharon is scheduled to convene the security cabinet at 8 P.M. Saturday to discuss the escalation in the Strip. The security cabinet is usually asked to approve military responses.
The first IAF air strike Saturday, also the first since Israel competed its pullout from Gaza last week, targeted buildings in the Gaza Strip and came only hours after Palestinians launched 26 Qassam rockets at targets in Israel.
Palestinian hospital officials said three people were lightly injured in the IAF operation.
Twenty one of the Qassams fired by Palestinians landed in the western Negev town of Sderot, wounding five Israelis, one moderately and the others lightly, the army said. Six others were treated for shock.
Two rockets were fired at an IDF base near the Gaza security fence, another landed in Kibbutz Kissufim, and another landed in an open field in the area. Also, an anti-tank rocket was fired at IDF troops along Gaza border.
Hamas said the Qassam attack was in response to Friday's blast at a Gaza City rally organized by the militant group, in which 17 people were killed.
The IDF announced Saturday that it had sealed off the West Bank, Jordan Valley and Gaza Strip in response to the Qassam attacks, Israel Radio reported.
The IDF said the air strikes targeted three Hamas weapons facilities, a weapons warehouse in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, a weapons factory in Gaza City and another weapons warehouse in Gaza City.
One missile landed in an empty field near an abandoned workshop where militants used to make homemade rockets in Gaza City, according to security officials.
The owner of the workshop, Mahed Abu Assi, 42, denied that it was used to produce weapons.
The second airstrike hit a garage outside the house of a Hamas militant. The third landed outside the house of an Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza City.
Hamas spokesman Mushir al Masri promised retaliation for the airstrikes.
The casualties in the Qassam attack on Sderot were civil guard volunteers who were hurt by shrapnel, Israel Radio reported. One of them was moderately wounded, the others lightly. They were taken for treatment to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
One Qassam fell next to a sports hall in the center of town. Others fell on a school, a factory and a residential building, none of which caused any injuries.
On Friday, Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets at Sderot. They landed in an open field and caused no injuries.
Islamic Jihad took responsibility for Friday's attack, claiming it fired 10 homemade rockets toward Sderot. The militant group said the rockets were launched in retaliation for the killing of three Islamic Jihad leaders in Tul Karm earlier in the day.
The rocket-firing incidents were the first since Israel completed its withdrawal from Gaza bringing an end to 38 years of military rule.
The last time Palestinians fired Qassam rockets was while IDF forces were withdrawing from the Strip last week. Mofaz said following the completion of the pullout that Israel would apply a "zero tolerance" policy against Qassam fire and other terror attacks from the Strip.
What's Hebrew for "Honest, sir - we were cleaning it and it just went off!"?
Somebody tell Hamas that missiles are faster than cars. On second thought. Don't tell them.
What is so sad is that the USA actually thinks this ROAD to PEACE will work with these bloody Islamofascists. I hope that Israel bombs them into their Allah-like Hell every time one Israeli cat, dog, car or person is harmed by these thugs. The USA has far too long been sold on this malarky of even-handedness. The Wahabi Muslims have never shown any idea of peace, compromise and it will be a grand day when Israel makes them pay severely. And that includes the Iranians and their nuke programs.
Hey, I hear ya and totally agree. We are suppose to fighting a war on terror and not supporting muslims. Until this nation and the world realizes the danger posed by muslim ideology we will contine to do skirmishes (not battles)because we don't want to offend.
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