Do that a few times along the border, and it will surely collapse any tunnels. Seems about time.
Posted on 12/30/2008 5:15:38 PM PST by Uncle Miltie
Hamas flexed its muscles Tuesday night and fired two rockets into Beersheba as Defense Minister Ehud Barak asked for government approval to call up an additional 2,500 reservists ahead of a planned ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
One of the Katyusha rockets struck a kindergarten in Beersheba, causing damage. Another rocket hit outside the city in an open field.
The IDF bombed the launcher of the Grad-model rockets afterward, as well as the cell responsible. The army said it successfully hit its target.
Defense officials had warned that Hamas had the ability to fire rockets into Beersheba - located some 40 kilometers from Gaza - but Tuesday night's attack was the first time the city's 200,000 residents came under Hamas rocket fire.
Earlier, rockets struck Ashdod and Ashkelon, where two people were killed in attacks on Monday. Grad-model Katyushas also hit open fields near Kiryat Malachi.
In total, more than 50 rockets struck the South on Tuesday, with one scoring a direct hit on a home in Sderot. No one was wounded in the attack, as the family had taken refuge in a nearby secure room.
The IAF, meanwhile, continued to bomb Gaza, hitting over 30 targets in addition to several dozen tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border. IDF sources said the tunnels had been used by Hamas to smuggle weapons and terrorists into the Gaza Strip. On Sunday the air force bombed some 40 smuggling tunnels.
On Tuesday night, Barak sent Cabinet Secretary Ovad Yehezkel a letter asking him to hold a phone vote among members of the cabinet to approve an IDF request to issue emergency call-up orders for an additional 2,500 reservists. On Sunday, the cabinet gave the IDF approval to call up 6,500 reservists.
Defense officials said it was likely that a ground operation would be launched in the next few days to keep up the momentum of the aerial bombardment of Gaza that started Saturday.
Earlier Monday, the IAF struck two targets in Gaza City and Khan Yunis. One of the targets was a Hamas police station. Overnight Monday, at least 10 people were killed and 40 others were wounded when IAF planes bombed a series of targets in the Strip, Palestinian sources said, bringing the death toll to over 380 Palestinians since Operation Cast Lead began.
The IDF confirmed air strikes against dozens of targets in the central Gaza town of El-Bureij (near Khan Yunis) and in Gaza City, including the Hamas Interior Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Treasury, as well as the office of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
On Tuesday, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi appeared in public for the first time since the operation began, and declared, "Difficult times are awaiting us. I am sure we will overcome them."
Speaking at a joint press conference Tuesday afternoon with President Shimon Peres at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Ashkenazi praised the forces participating in Operation Cast Lead, which he said was aimed at "creating a better security reality for the residents of southern Israel."
He also thanked the public for supporting the operation, and expressed appreciation of southern residents, who were "living under constant threat" and providing important support to the operation, "which extends our endurance."
Ashkenazi added that he was "very pleased with the operation at this point."
Earlier Tuesday afternoon during a tour of Ashkelon, Barak said that military action against Hamas would continue until all of the operation's goals were met.
The defense minister said the operation would intensify "as much as needed to meet the goals we set for ourselves - to bring quiet to the South."
He added, "We expect more difficult days ahead which will test civilians' endurance."
OBTW - Can’t they essentially Arc Light the border and collapse all those tunnels they can’t quite find?
Seems to me we could loan them a few B-52s for the purpose.
Do that a few times along the border, and it will surely collapse any tunnels. Seems about time.
ISRAEL Updates Here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2156378/posts
#
Related:
QUOTE:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2156378/posts?page=6#6
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3647569,00.html
“Rockets reach Beersheba, cause damage”
SNIPPET: “Hundreds of thousands of Israelis join list of rocket-stricken communities as Grad missile explodes in empty kindergarten, causing damage; 34 people suffer shock. Air Force targets launching cell. Man lightly injured by rocket in Ashkelon”
Ilana Curiel
Published: 12.30.08, 21:09 / Israel News
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Beersheba joined the list of rocket-stricken communities Tuesday evening as an air raid siren sounded across the southern city, followed by several explosions. A Grad missile landed in an empty kindergarten in the city, causing damage. Thirty-four people were treated for shock at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
The Israel Air Force managed to locate the terrorist cell which launched the Grad rocket. The cell was located in the northern Gaza Strip and attacked from the air by an IAF jet. Both the launching pads and the cell members were hit.”
6 posted on December 30, 2008 2:37:40 PM PST by Cindy
how the media reports how many ‘Israelis’ died in a Hamas rocket attack but how many ‘children’ died in an Israeli rocket attack?
how it's always the Israeli ‘military’ that ‘attacks’ or ‘punishes’ the Palestinians, but the ‘militia’ of Hamas that ‘defends’ herself against Israel.”
I hope Israel beats the hell out of the Palis. I'm sick of the good people of the world constantly taking it on the chin while the animals take us over from within and without. They understand only one thing: superior force.
Searched on Titles for “Kindergarten.” Didn’t find any. Should I have done a more thorough search, or is a separate article okay?
No, I’m glad you posted a new thread.
I was giving you a link for my “today’s thread” in Israel.
Giggling...I would check my post #20 Brad’s Gramma.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2156378/posts?page=20#20
Beer-sheva ?
Freaking Kindergarten.
And I’m sure the Hamas b*stards thought it was an excellent target, except that it was empty.
Burn, baby burn. Let them eat dirt and fry in hell.
I liked the quote on the weekend that said something about seven Pali children, under the age of 15, were killed.
I thought, “Potential suicide bombers”.
GO Israel!!!
Is that what you meant? I'm confused.
“Freaking Kindergarten.”
Yep, the global jihad is 24/7.
Yes, and there’s my response in post no. 20 to the top photo in post no. 16.
Yeah...that I saw, VERY astute of you to catch that.
I wish someone who knew & had a good paint program could enlarge that picture.
It just galls me that Hamas can do any blankety blank thing it wants to do to Israel, but the world shudders when Israel strikes back in defense of itself? Amazing.
Simple solution. Gaza is a relatively small area, about 58 square miles, and 2/3rds of it is about 5 miles across. Israel could erect several inexpensive, 100 ft. towers, and fly a tethered surveillance blimp, and have surveillance over the vast majority of Gaza.
The, set up a few teams of artillerymen, with WWII-era 105mm Howitzers and computer fire control. Hamas would be incapable of setting up a rocket to launch without having a 105mm round dropped right on target *prior* to launch.
It is fast, cheap, and quick. The entire system could be set up in a day.
Thanks Brad’s Gramma, but there are also people further from the scene on the ground and they are just like the balcony people, standing there in casual stance watching the focal point scene.
Yep....I noticed that too...
They’re just cool as cucumbers, aren’t they? Posing for the cameras...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.